Sharif sounds battle cry, asks Musharraf to quit

New Delhi: Pakistan Muslim League-N leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said President Pervez Musharraf should read the writing on the wall and step down as the President of Pakistan.

Addressing a press conference after a poll verdict in favour of the Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-N became clear, Sharif said the Pakistani people have expressed their desire for Musharraf to leave, he should listen to them.

"The people have given their verdict. Musharraf either does not understand their wishes or may be his eyes are closed. He has said that he will leave when the people want him to leave. The people have said today what they want," Sharif said with a smile.

The election results dealt a huge setback for Musharraf and the pro-Musharraf PML-Q had already conceded defeat in the elections.

The PPP and PML(N), once arch-enemies, together crossed the halfway mark in the National Assembly even as vote count neared close, and the two parties were exploring ways to form a coalition government in Islamabad.

On his part, Musharraf talked of reconciliation and expressed his readiness to work with the new government.

"I strongly believe that this politics of confrontation must give the way to politics of reconciliation, not in anyone's personal interest but in the interest of Pakistan," Musharraf said.

Sharif, the two-time premier who was deposed by Musharraf in a bloodless coup in 1999, hinted that a new dispensation of Opposition parties in Islamabad would seek to get the legality of Pervez Musharraf's election examined by an independent judiciary after restoring the judges sacked by the President.

Sharif did not even rule out the possibility of a move to impeach Musharraf. He said he would be meeting Pakistan People's Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday in this regard.

"The restored judiciary will examine the eligibility of Musharraf's candidature in last year's Presidential elections which he had won," says Sharif.

He said the first priority of a new government in Pakistan should be to reinstate the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf. "Unless the judges are restored, the judiciary can't be independent," he said.

The former PM said the PML-N never accepted the imposition of Emergency in the first place. "The steps taken by Musharraf during the Emergency will have to be rolled back," he said.

He appealed to all political forces to join hands to end dictatorship in the country. "We want Army's role in politics to end once and for all," he said.

Sharif, whose party surprised the political establishment by bagging 65 of the 269 National Assembly seats, said the PML-N would convene a meeting of the party's parliamentary board in Islamabad on Thursday to discuss all issues.

The meeting will be followed by a meeting with Zardari in Islamabad on Thursday. "We will explore all options, including the formation of government and the reinstatement of the judges."

"I have already discussed this matter with Asif Zardari and I told him that Pakistan's judiciary's independence is very strongly linked with its restoration. It is dependent on the restoration of the judiciary. Unless the judges are restored, the judiciary cannot attain any independence," he said.

Zardari, however, has committed himself only to the independence of the judiciary and this remains a major point of difference between the PML-N and the PPP, which has emerged as the single largest party.

Sharif said he would get in touch with Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan and leaders of other Opposition parties to discuss government formation.

The party will work with all democratic forces to restore democracy and rule of law, supremacy of the Constitution, sovereignty of the parliament and independence of judiciary.

"I invite everyone to sit together and rid Pakistan of dictatorship for all time," Sharif said. "We will cooperate with (all democratic forces) and try to seek their cooperation... To accomplish this democratic agenda, all of us must unite on one common platform."

The PML-N leader also extended an olive branch to the dissident leaders of the party, saying his party "will welcome back those who broke away from PML-N to join PML-Q."

(With PTI inputs)