In a setback to President Pervez Musharraf who was hoping to wean away the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) from former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N, the two victorious Opposition parties tonight announced that they would form a coalition government of “national consensus” in Pakistan. They have left open a decision on who should be the next Prime Minister. “We have agreed on a common agenda. We will work together to form a government together at the Centre and in the provinces,” Sharif told a joint news conference in Islamabad with Asif Ali Zardari, husband of assassinated PPP leader and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The announcement of the two parties formally joining hands — they together account for 153 seats in a House of 272 — was made after two hours of negotiations between Zardari and Sharif during which they ironed out differences on some key issues. “We will ensure that you complete a full five year term,” said Sharif looking at Zardari who in turn said there were a “lot of grounds to cover” but “Inshallah (God willing) we will be meeting off and on. In principle we have agreed to stay together.” “We are trying to form a national consensus government,” said Zardari. The coming together of Zardari and Sharif may spell trouble for Musharraf who has rejected strident calls, especially by Sharif, for his resignation. Asked whether the new government would work with Musharraf, Sharif said: “You know my views. The nation has given its verdict, it is from every nook and corner of Pakistan. The sooner he (Musharraf) accepts it, the better it is for him. He should go today only. he should accept the people’s verdict.” Sharif said the two parties had overcome differences over his demand for the immediate restoration of sacked chief justice Mohammed Iftikhar Choudhry. “In principle there is no disagreement on the restoration of the judiciary. We will work out the modalities in Parliament,” said Sharif. Zardari said the coalition would not involve any parties from the alliance that backed Musharraf in the present parliament. “We are not looking at prof-Musharraf parties. we have come to the same position that we started this fight with, that we will be together in the struggle for democracy (and) we intend to stay together in parliament,” he said. He said they had agreed that the first action of the new parliament would be to pass a resolution seeking a UN-led inquiry into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Regarding the prime ministership, there were reports that Fahim Maqdoom of the PPP was the front runner but there is no official word on it. Sharif also said that the PPP has the right to form the next government.
