Asif Ali Zardari agrees to contest presidential election

PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has decided to run for president in the wake of Musharraf’s resignation, officials announced on Saturday.

“Zardari has accepted to contest the election for the office of president of Pakistan after the party unanimously drafted him to do so,” PPP deputy secretary general Raza Rabbani told a press conference.

Rabbani said Zardari had been chosen in part in tribute to the sacrifices of Bhutto, who was killed in a suicide attack at an election rally in December.

The party official said the PPP had consulted its coalition partners before announcing that Zardari was their choice to lead the nuclear-armed nation, adding: “We are optimistic that the coalition will remain intact.”

Rabbani said the “judges will be restored” but said a timeframe could not be given immediately.

Sharif’s party spokesman Siddiqul Farooq said the issue of whether Zardari would stand for the presidency was the PPP’s “own decision,” not that of the coalition partners.

“It is the PPP’s own decision and it has nothing to do with the coalition,” Farooq said.

“We do not want a civilian president with the same powers that Musharraf had, mainly the power to dissolve parliament,” he added.

“Our top priority is restoration of the judges and we want it done on Monday,” Farooq insisted, adding that the party would meet in Islamabad on Monday to discuss the latest developments.