Sharif party reconsiders decision on poll boycott

Karachi: Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League  is likely to abandon plans to boycott an upcoming general election, a party spokesman said on Sunday.

It said it was reviewing its boycott decision after slain
former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's party declared it would
contest the election, currently scheduled for Jan 8.

"It is likely that the party will take part...," said
Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League, said.

 "If they don't mind contesting elections after Benazir
Bhutto's assassination, then there is no point in our
boycotting general elections," he added.

Sharif had announced his party would boycott the vote after
his rival Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide attack on
Thursday.