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Pakistan's Sharif party will not join gov't

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, April 16, IRNA - Pakistan’s main party, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Thursday said it will not join the ruling coalition but will support the government.

Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani had invited Sharif’s PML-N party to join the government after the government accepted the demand for the restoration of judges.

Sharif’s party withdrew ministers from the cabinet last year after President Asif Ali Zardari had refused to restore the judges.

But political pressure forced the President to restore the judges last month.

Nawaz Sharif told a news conference that central leaders of his party opposed the idea to join the government.

“PML-N will not join the federal cabinet but will continue support to the PPP-led coalition,” he said.

The decision means Sharif’s party will be the major opposition group in the parliament.

Earlier Sharif presided over the meeting of his party’s Central Working Committee and Parliamentary party to discuss a formal reply to the government’s request to join the cabinet.

“My party is fully respecting mandate of the government and would continue its cooperation without joining it to address the national importance issues,” Sharif said.

“We can not afford any sort of confrontation and we have to jointly work for the strengthening of the country”.