Sharif was chairing a meeting of an alliance of 33 opposition parties and political groups in the eastern city of Lahore Sunday evening to decide whether to boycott Pakistan's Jan 8 parliamentary polls.
ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif will likely have his opposition party contest upcoming elections, saying the polls would be a referendum on the military-backed rule of President Pervez Musharraf, a spokesman for Sharif's party said Sunday.
Sharif was chairing a meeting of an alliance of 33 opposition parties and political groups in the eastern city of Lahore Sunday evening to decide whether to boycott Pakistan's Jan 8 parliamentary polls.
Key opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party is not part of the All Parties Democratic Movement. It has made it clear it intends to contest the elections despite claiming that "massive rigging" was already underway by Musharraf's caretaker government. A leading Islamic party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), has also decided to participate.
Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said Sharif did not want to "leave the field open" for political parties that support Musharraf to easily win control of parliament.
"As JUI and the Pakistan Peoples Party are contesting election, it will be difficult for the Muslim League-N to abstain," he said, adding that the polls would be "a referendum on Musharraf's rule."
Musharraf declared a state of emergency Nov 3, suspending the constitution, jailing political opponents, firing dozens of judges and gagging the media. He made the move amid fears that the country's Supreme Court was going to nullify his October re-election victory.
Sharif and Bhutto have joined forces to demand that Musharraf meet certain conditions to avoid a boycott, including that the emergency measures be lifted and a neutral caretaker government and national election commission be appointed before the polls.
However, they were unable to agree on whether to demand that around 60 Supreme Court and high court judges that Musharraf sacked last month be immediately reinstated.
Musharraf needs the elections to go smoothly to prevent Pakistan from sliding into another political crisis, which the Bush administration, his key backers, fear would affect his ability to fight Al Qaeda and Taliban militants who have regrouped along the border with Afghanistan.
Sharif's nomination papers to run for parliament were rejected because of a previous conviction for treason and corruption.
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