Sharif 'disappointed' about lack of confidence in coalition

Islamabad: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday once again voiced the growing anger in his Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) over the non-reinstatement of the deposed judges by the coalition government.

"We are very disappointed and dismayed," he said before departure for London to meet his spouse Kulsoom, who is recuperating after a recent surgery.

Sharif said his party was also upset over the failure of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led government to take coalition partners into confidence over important matters.

He said the government had not consulted PML-N, a major partner in the ruling coalition, before taking decisions like the ongoing military operation in Khyber tribal district and increase in fuel, electricity and gas prices.

Unresolved

The issue of the dozens of judges President Pervez Musharraf sacked last year under emergency rule has remained unresolved despite a commitment by the two major parties to restore them.

PPP plans to do the needful through an amendment to the constitution while PML-N insists on a National Assembly resolution and executive order as agreed and publicly pledged jointly in March by Sharif and PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari.

The differences are seen undermining the partnership between the two main components of the coalition, with PML-N having withdrawn its ministers from the cabinet in May.

Sharif said his party had made a "sacrifice for a larger cause" by pulling out its ministers and regretted that the cause still remained unfulfilled.

Recalling the March pledge by him and Zardari, he asked: "If commitments are not fulfilled at this level, then at what level can commitments be fulfilled?"

The former premier however justified his party remaining part of the coalition despite having no role in decision-making.

"We are in the coalition for protecting democracy because a dictator is still there enjoying privileges and perks," he said, referring to Musharraf.

He vowed that the party would continue its efforts to remove Musharraf who he said was "major obstacle" to the fulfillment of the mandate for a change the nation had given in the February general election.

Analysts say it is becoming increasing difficult for the PML-N to continue partnership with the PPP despite its fear that a breakup of the coalition would benefit Musharraf.

About his meeting Tuesday with Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, the former prime minister said he had told him that Pakistan's internal affairs had to be managed by the government without any outside interference.

Sharif said that the parliament was not acting as a sovereign body. "We have to restore the 1973 constitution. We have to restore rule of law and we have to make the parliament sovereign," he said.

About the lawyer community's plan to hold another long march for the restoration of the judges, Sharif said his party would continue full support to the lawyers' movement.