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Benazir, Nawaz Sharif sign "charter of democracy"

Hasan Suroor

Former Pakistan Prime Ministers say they will return home

LONDON: Former Pakistan Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif signed a "charter of democracy'' here on Sunday as they stepped up their joint campaign against President Pervez Musharraf ahead of next year's elections in Pakistan.

They also vowed to return home to take part in the election campaign and rejected speculation about a possible "deal'' with President Musharraf.

The charter, the second such agreement to be signed by two former political rivals in recent months, commits Ms. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Mr. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (N) to restoring democracy in Pakistan and strengthening the parliamentary system. The charter also calls for setting up a commission to inquire into the Kargil conflict and seeks a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue.

"Peaceful relations with India and Afghanistan will be pursued without prejudice to outstanding disputes,'' it said.

Describing it as a "historic'' accord, the two leaders said that they had decided to work together in the "larger interest of the nation."

"It's true that there were major differences between the two parties in the past. But we have both been victims of military dictatorship and so we have an understanding of the larger picture,'' Ms Bhutto said. Their prime objective was to ensure Pakistan's political stability and peace in the region. She said Pakistan had been declared as a "failed'' state by European analysts. "I and Nawaz Sharif don't want to see Pakistan as a failed state,'' she declared.

Mr. Sharif called the agreement a "milestone'' in the struggle against "dictatorship.''

"We've signed this historic agreement in the best interest of the country... I have found Benazir very sincere in waging a joint struggle for the revival of genuine democracy in the country,'' he said.

Both leaders gifted to each the pens with which they signed the accord. Ms. Bhutto, who faces arrest on corruption charges if she returns to Pakistan, insisted that she intended to go back. "I will definitely go back before 2007 polls,'' she said dismissing the corruption cases against her. Mr. Sharif, who risks breaking the terms of his exile if he returned to Pakistan, said: "I and Benazir will go back together.''

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