International

PPP puts Sharif in a bind

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is keeping its archrival Nawaz Sharif guessing about its intentions, saying it wants his Pakistan Muslim League (N) back in the ruling coalition while a government anti-corruption department decided to move court for reopening cases against him and his family.

The PML (N) has slammed the move by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as politically motivated. Spokesman Ahsan Iqbal expressed surprise at the government’s move. Speaking to Dawn News TV, he denounced it as an attempt to blackmail the party, and said the government “should realise that these are tried, tested and failed tactics of the past.”

Prosecutor Zulfiqar Bhutta told journalists no political motive was behind a NAB application on Tuesday, asking the anti-corruption court in Rawalpindi to set a date for taking up three cases against Mr. Sharif and his younger brother Shahbaz, who is Punjab’s Chief Minister, which it had put off indefinitely at the last hearing in August.

Speaking in Lahore, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said no importance should be attached to the application. Mr. Gilani said he would invite the PML (N) to rejoin the government after the government had restored all the judges sacked by the former President, Pervez Musharraf, last year, which is the main sticking point between the two parties.

He also said the PPP was committed to restoring the “balance of powers” between the presidency and Parliament. Mr. Gilani said the government was opposed to the amendments to the Constitution introduced by retired General Musharraf with a view to strengthening his own position vis-À-vis Parliament, namely the 17th amendment and more specifically, Article 58 (2) (b), that empowers the President to dissolve Parliament..

However, Mr. Sharif has ruled out rejoining the government or the ruling coalition, predicting it would crumble before completing its tenure and it was reluctant to keep its promises.

Mr. Sharif said he had lost all hopes that PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari would fulfil any of his promises. The PML (N) has also expressed reservations at the piecemeal manner in which the judges of the Sindh and Lahore High Courts have been restored and on condition that they take a new oath of office.

In an interview to Gulf News, Mr. Sharif, however, said his party had no intention of destabilising the government. Mr. Sharif said he intends to contest elections to enter the National Assembly, but the Supreme Court has kept an appeal against the disqualification of his candidature pending.

In the North West Frontier Province, clashes continued in Swat, where nine militants are reported to have been killed. In Kurram, eight people were killed despite the announcement of a ceasefire by Sunni tribes.

China has pressed for the safe return of two of its nationals missing since Friday in the NWFP’s Dir area, along with two Pakistanis. The Taliban claimed on Tuesday the four were in its custody. They are employees of a Chinese mobile phone company. The Taliban did not say if it would be releasing the four, nor did it set conditions for the release.

China’s Ambassador Luozhao Hui called on Mr. Gilani on Tuesday. A press release said Pakistan-China bilateral relations were discussed at the meeting. In an indication that the meeting was about the missing Chinese nationals, Rehman Malik, adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior, was present. “The Prime Minister said Pakistan-China friendship is time-tested and has grown stronger with the passage of time,” said the release.

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