The Hindu : Front Page : Not in the race: Zardari

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Thursday, Feb 21, 2008
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Not in the race: Zardari

Nirupama Subramanian

PML(Q) not a possible partner

ISLAMABAD: As the Pakistan People’s Party positioned itself for government formation, its leader Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday ruled himself out as Prime Minister and reiterated that he did not consider the routed Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) a possible coalition partner.

With the results in the February 18 election that gave a clean sweep to parties opposed to him President Pervez Musharraf creating the possibility that they might close ranks to impeach him, Mr. Zardari said the decision whether or not to work with General (retd.) Musharraf was for the new National Assembly to make.

In an interview to The Wall Street Journal, General Musharraf ruled out the possibility of his resignation.

Mr. Zardari, however, indicated that he considered the election result a verdict against General Musharraf when he said the people had spoken. The “world today has heard the message of the people of Pakistan.”

The PPP leader said there were several senior leaders within the party who were suited to don the mantle of prime ministership.

“I’m not a candidate for Prime Minister,” he said, addressing a press conference after the party’s central executive committee met for the second consecutive day.

Once again repeating his party’s claim to government formation, Mr. Zardari said he wanted to form a government of national consensus and flagged the condition that those parties which wanted to join the coalition must support the PPP’s demand for a United Nations-backed investigation into the killing of his wife and former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto.

The PPP leader also spoke about the restoration of judges sacked in the November 3 emergency, an issue that could come in the way of the Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League (N) joining the new government.

Mr. Zardari underlined the party’s position that it believed in the institution of an independent judiciary, and said the new Parliament would make a decision on the restoration of the judges.

The PML (N) has said it wants the immediate restoration of the sacked judges and the reinstatement of the deposed Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhary. Mr. Sharif said at a press conference on Tuesday that once the judges were reinstated, the matter of President Musharraf’s legitimacy would be reopened and decided by the restored judiciary.

From within the PPP too, Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, who officially continues to remain under house arrest, made an emphatic demand for the reinstatement of Mr. Chaudhary and the restoration of the other judges.

Speaking to journalists in Lahore, Mr. Ahsan set a March 9 deadline for the new Parliament to achieve this.

Meanwhile, a visit by Mr. Zardari to the U.S. Embassy here set off speculation that Washington had swung into action to safeguard its interests and to dissuade the PPP from a confrontation with General Musharraf. Mr. Zardari met U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson and a diplomat in charge of political affairs for over an hour.

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