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Zardari ready to bury the hatchet?

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari appeared ready to bury the hatchet with the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (N) on Saturday with a call for an end to Governor’s rule in Punjab and also an offer of support to the rival Nawaz Sharif-led party for government formation in the province. The PPP, he said, would sit in the opposition and not conspire to bring down the provincial government. “We will bring an end to horse trading,” he promised.

The imposition of Governor’s rule last month following the Supreme Court’s disqualification of PML(N) leaders — Mr. Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz — triggered a major political crisis.

A showdown on the streets was averted at the last minute with the restoration of Chief Justice Ifthikar Chaudhary; but tensions between the PML(N) and the ruling PPP have remained over who will form the next government in Punjab.

“As we move towards a better future, I wish to announce that we should recommend the lifting of Governor rule in Punjab,” said Mr. Zardari in an address to a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate.

The Pakistan People’s Party would support the PML(N) candidate for Chief Minister, said Mr. Zardari. “We have enough challenges facing us from all over the world and from within. Let us stop fighting each other. Let us be friends for now and forever.”

Contrary to speculation all week, Mr. Zardari, who addressed Parliament to inaugurate a new session as required under the Constitution, did not announce that he was relinquishing the powers he inherited from his predecessor Pervez Musharraf.

Instead, he asked Parliament to form a committee to recommend changes to the 17th amendment, a Musharraf-era legislation that makes the President more powerful than the Prime Minister and Parliament.

He also said he was confident that the government would be able to soon bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to book, and expressed the hope that the peace process with India would soon resume.

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