Main opposition parties aim to form new gov't
published:
Friday | February 22, 2008
APPakistan People's Party's co-chairman and husband of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari (left), shakes hands with Pakistan's Muslim League-N party chief Nawaz Sharif, at a press conference after their meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, yesterday. Pakistan's two main opposition parties announced yesterday they would form a new government together after their victory in elections this week over allies of President Pervez Musharraf. -
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP):
Pakistan's two main opposition parties announced yesterday they would form a new government together after their victory in elections this week, but skirted the issue of whether they would push for the ouster of United States-backed President Pervez Musharraf.
The broad agreement between the two secular groups, which tussled for power for a decade before Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup, marks an important step towards setting up a civilian administration to govern the Islamic nation after years of military rule.
Asif Ali Zardari, the widowed husband of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif, whose last government was ousted by Musharraf, made the announcement after meeting in Islamabad, three days after defeating the ruling party in the parliamentary elections.
"We have agreed on a common agenda. We will work together to form a government together in the centre and in the provinces,'' Sharif said at a joint news conference with Zardari. He added that a third smaller group, the Awami National Party, would join them.
Will strengthen democracy
''The future of democracy is within our grasp. We will strengthen the parliament, we will strengthen democracy, we will work together for Pakistan. We will make a stronger Pakistan,'' Zardari said.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party won 87 National Assembly seats in Monday's vote, and Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N won 67 out of 268 seats contested. The pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q won 40, with the rest going to smaller parties and independent candidates. Six results have yet to be announced.
The result exposed Musharraf's own lack of public support amid rising Islamic militancy and anger over his crackdown on the independent judiciary. It also raised questions about his survival as head of state. He recently resigned from the army, considerably diminishing his power.
While both parties rode a wave of anti-Musharraf sentiment, they still have to hammer out the details of how they will share power and resolve divergence in policy.
