Sharif to join Bhutto party in coalition

Islamabad: The top leaders of Pakistan's two major opposition parties on Sunday signed a power-sharing agreement and pledged to reinstate about 60 judges deposed by President Pervez Musharraf.

Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), announced the ground-breaking pact at a joint news conference at Murree hill resort near the capital.

Sharif read out a joint summit declaration after which both signed it and took a flurry of questions.

Zardari said the two mainstream parties stood "on the verge of making history" and would work hand in hand on the road to democracy and face challenges in cooperation with the world.

The declaration said the coalition components, including the Awami National Party, were ready to form governments and demanded immediate convening of the National and Provincial Assemblies.

The partners "undertake to form a coalition together for a democratic Pakistan for translating the mandate given by the people of Pakistan to the democratic forces on February 18, 2008 into action", the declaration said.

"It was decided that the restoration of the deposed judges as it was on November 2, 2007 shall be brought about through a parliamentary resolution to be passed in the National Assembly within 30 days of formation of the central government," it said.

Prime minister

The PML-N shall be part of the federal coalition and the PPP would share power with it in the Punjab province, according to the document.

The nominee of the PPP for the office of prime minister shall be fully supported by all coalition partners and it was suggested by the PML-N that the slot should go to a person "who can deliver on the agenda of the coalition".

It was agreed that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 342-member National Assembly will be from the PPP while the same position in the Punjab Assembly will go to PML-N.

Zardari, seeking support and cooperation of the world to the democratic dispensation, said the coalition would work and "behave responsibly".

"I want to request the world, please give us a chance. Pakistanis have spoken and they have spoken the language of democracy," the widower of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto said, an apparent reference to concerns over ability of a civilian setup to face challenges including terrorism.

Both parties showed flexibility in paving the way for the agreement. The PML-N retracted from its stand not to be part of the coalition Cabinet while the PPP relented on the issue of restoration of sacked judges.

Sharif's party also appeared to have softened its tough posture on the question of working with Musharraf.

Party sources said the PML-N nominees for the Cabinet could be appointed as advisers with the rank of ministers to avoid being sworn in by the president.

"We will not let our eight-year struggle go in vain," Sharif said, indicating his party would maintain its stance against Musharraf, who repeatedly expressed his desire to work with the new elected government and fully support it.

The sources said once the judges were restored they would again take up the issue of legality of Musharraf's controversial re-election in October last year by assemblies just before expiry of their tenures.

Both leaders avoided a direct answer to questions as to when they would move in the parliament to scrap existing presidential powers to dissolve the assembly and government and do away with a civilian-military National Security Council introduced by Musharraf.

Sharif, however, said the Charter of Democracy that he and the late Benazir Bhutto had signed in London in 2006 would be implemented in letter and spirit to establish sovereignty of the parliament, restore the 1973 constitution and revert to the parliamentary system.

He said the coalition partners would together formulate the country's foreign policy and the internal agenda.

Zardari said the Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI) religious party led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, former opposition leader in the National Assembly, had agreed to be part of the coalition.

Provincial leaders

The PPP has 120 seats in the National Assembly, the PML-N 90 and the Awami National Party 13 and with JUI lawmakers the total strength of the coalition will rise to 229, one more than two-thirds majority in the directly elected lower house.

With the JUI support, the PPP also hopes to form the government in Balochistan province, where the pro-Musharraf PML-Q emerged as the single largest group in the elections.

The PML-Q has tried to cobble together a coalition in the province but divided and shaken by its humiliation at the ballot its efforts appeared to be doomed.

In Sindh, the PPP has a simple majority to form the government and has already nominated a provincial chief minister.

Punjab is to be ruled by PML-N, with its president Shahbaz Sharif set to become chief minister after securing a seat in the provincial legislature through a by-election in coming months.

The Awami National Party, which outpolled former ruling religious alliance in the North West Frontier Province, is to lead the government there, with the PPP sharing power with it.

The ANP has nominated Amir Haider Hoti for the post of chief minister.