We need a break from Musharraf's policies - Sharif

Islamabad: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday expressed dismay over the state of affairs in Pakistan and called for a break from the policies of the regime of former president Pervez Musharraf.

Speaking to reporters at Punjab House the top leader of the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) said the people's mandate in the February general election had not been given effect.

"The existing system in the country is just like an extension of the system under Musharraf," he said.

PML-N pulled out of the ruling coalition led by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in August because of differences over the issue of the restoration of Musharraf-deposed judges including chief justice Iftikahr Mohammad Chaudhry.

The party, the second largest in the National Assembly after the PPP, has continued to support the government despite sitting on the opposition benches in the parliament.

And in Punjab, the most populous province of the country, the PPP remains a partner in the governing provincial coalition despite the cleavage at the federal level between the two major parties.

Shairf said his party stood for annulment of the distortions Musharraf had inserted into the constitution through the 17th Amendment. He said the PML-N was cooperating with the government to consolidate the democratic order but it was vital to move in the right direction and restore the system enshrined in the original 1973 constitution.

Federal Minister Manzoor Ahmad Watto said in Lahore yesterday the PPP government had decided in principle to strengthen partnership between the two parties in Punjab in the interest of democracy.