We will form government minus Musharraf allies: Zardari

Pakistan People’s Party chief Asif Zardari on Tuesday hinted at forming a coalition government with opponents of President Pervez Musharraf including former premier Nawaz Sharif, indicating more difficulties ahead for the embattled ruler.
He said his party was not interested in allying itself with those who supported Musharraf for past five years but held back a prompt call for the ex military chief’s resignation.
The widower of former slain premier Benazir Bhutto was speaking to a crowded news conference flocked by hundreds of local and foreign journalists because of its timing-a day after the parliamentary polls. “We want to make national consensus government here (in center) and in all four provinces with our allies…and not with those who were part of the previous regime,” he said.
The news conference was followed by meeting of a decision-making body of his party, for the first time following Monday’s elections for the national and four provincial assemblies.
Unofficial results emerged so far suggested political parties unfriendly to Musharraf could secure two-thirds majority to join forces for his ouster through a parliamentary rebuke called impeachment. In Lahore earlier in day, Nawaz Sharif, whose faction of Pakistan Muslim League also did well in elections, said the president must resign immediately.
Nawaz, whom Musharraf threw out in a military coup eight years ago, demanded judged he forcefully retired in November last year to prevent a hostile verdict on the legitimacy of his re-election a month earlier must be reinstated.
Zardari, however, said a future parliament must decide whether Musharraf should step down as president and judges including deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry should be back to job.
He dismissed an impression that it was really a difference of opinion between him and Nawaz and said he would meet the former premier on Wednesday to evolve a consensus.
Asif told media he also talked to Nawaz over the phone in the day. “Nawaz is an experienced politician and…we want to work with him,” he said and called a Pushtoon nationalist party of NWFP as a potential future ally too. Awami National Party (AWP), once a largest parliamentary group in the province, regained heavily grounds it lost to a now divided alliance of Islamic parties in 2002 general elections.
The troika-PPP, PML-N, and ANP-is being seen in a position to form governments among themselves in the center and at least three provinces-Punjab, Sindh and NWFP.
It’s not sure how the party would do in Balochistan province where no group is in majority this time like always in the past. Zardari also spoke of heralding a national consensus-both political and social-to help reunite a society in Pakistan now largely divided on ideological and ethnic grounds after eight years of authoritarian military rule.
Musharraf sent out military to country’s north and south-western conservative border regions to crush Islamic and nationalist insurgencies there. The move, however, was seen as resulting into creating divisions in the society, threatening the very integrity of the country.
Zardari said he would now combine political dialogue and force to deal with the terrorism, a menace the United States said could hit the West from Pakistani lawless tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
“We will also talk to those who are not in the parliament, and have climbed mountains,” he said, referring to Islamic militants in NWFP and liberation fighters in Balochistan where nationalist political groups boycotted polls to protest against Musharraf.The PPP co-chairperson added the future parliament would decide what exactly should be the strategy to deal with insurgencies, a task Musharraf did never think necessary.
“Parliament will decide whether there should be any operation, less operation or more operation,” he added, vowing to strengthen the federation, an imperative obligation of the government many believe Musharraf was ignoring.
Asif said his newly elected legislatures would make parliament more powerful than any individual, hinting at limited future role of Musharraf if he stays. “We do not intend to make dictator strong. We are to make parliament strong,” he remarked.