Sharif assures Zardari of cooperation to strengthen democracy

Islamabad, Sep 8 (PTI) Pakistan Muslim League (P.M.L.-N.)
chief Nawaz Sharif Monday assured ruling Pakistan People's
Party (P.P.P.) co-chairman and President-elect Asif Ali
Zardari that his party would cooperate with the P.P.P.-led
government to strengthen democracy in the country.

Sharif, who called on Zardari to congratulate him on his
win in the presidential poll, ruled out returning to the
ruling coalition and said the P.M.L.-N would play a "healthy
role" in the opposition.

The P.M.L.-N. pulled out of the alliance last month after
accusing Zardari of reneging on several promises.

Senior P.M.L.-N. leader Ahsan Iqbal described the meeting
as a "courtesy call" and said the two sides had not held any
detailed political discussions.

Zardari is set to be sworn in as President Tuesday and
Sharif will be unable to attend the event as he will be
leaving for London to be with his wife, who is recovering
after surgery.

"He (Sharif) will be away for the next five-six days, so
he wanted to personally congratulate Zardari before he left
the country," Iqbal told reporters.

Zardari had wanted the P.M.L.-N. to return to the
coalition but Sharif told him the party would play a "healthy
role in the opposition" and cooperate with the government to
strengthen democracy, Iqbal said.

In the past few days, the P.M.L.-N. has also called on
Zardari to quit his position as party chief in the P.P.P. so
that he could function as a non-partisan President.

Sharif, his brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif
and senior P.M.L.-N. leaders called on Zardari at the Prime
Minister's House. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and senior
P.P.P. leaders too were present.

"The purpose of this meeting was to set a new tradition
in Pakistan's democracy and politics – that we must accept the
victory of the candidate who has won the election and the
party which has lost the election must congratulate the
winning party," Iqbal said.

The P.M.L.-N will support all the good actions of the
P.P.P.-led coalition. At the same time, it would suggest
improvements wherever it noticed shortcomings, he said.

"While sitting in the opposition, the P.M.L.-N will not
allow the system to be weakened. We want the transition to
democracy to be completed and we want to see democracy
strengthened," he added.

"I hope that both parties will continue to work together
while they in government and in opposition in the spirit (laid
down) in the Charter of Democracy for strengthening the
democratic process in Pakistan," Iqbal said, referring to an
agreement signed by Sharif and late P.P.P. chairperson Benazir
Bhutto in 2006.

In the wake of a war of words between P.P.P. and
P.M.L.-N leaders in Punjab, where the P.M.L.-N is in power,
Iqbal hoped both parties would accept each other's mandate.

"Just as we have accepted with an open heart the P.P.P.'s
victory and mandate in the centre, we hope that the P.P.P.
will reciprocate and open-heartedly accept our mandate in
Punjab,"he said.

The presidential election had "amply proven that the
P.M.L.-N government enjoys a very comfortable majority without
the P.P.P.'s support in the Punjab assembly". The P.M.L.-N
candidate bagged the most votes in the Punjab assembly while
Zardari swept the poll in the three other provincial
assemblies.

Some P.M.L.-N leaders would attend Zardari's swearing-in
ceremony even though the party has reservations about Supreme
Court Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar, who will administer the
oath, Iqbal said.

The P.M.L.-N does not accept Dogar as the constitutional
Chief Justice as he was appointed during last year's emergency
after former President Pervez Musharraf sacked dozens of
judges. Iqbal reiterated the P.M.L.-N's demand for
unconditional reinstatement of the deposed judges.