Gilani invites Sharif's party to rejoin govt

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ISLAMABAD, April 13 (Reuters): Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has asked former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party to rejoin the government but Sharif's party said Monday it was unlikely to do so.
Political tension in nuclear-armed Pakistan has eased considerably since last month, when the government gave in to opposition demands to reinstate a controversial Supreme Court chief.
The Supreme Court later cleared the way for Sharif's party, the country's second biggest party, to resume as the governing party in Punjab, Pakistan's biggest and politically most important province.
But the country is also grappling with rising Islamist militant violence while struggling to revive a sagging economy.
Analysts say the government, led by President Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), wants Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) back in the coalition it left last year to share the burden-and the blame for any failings.
"The political forces of the country now should join hands to thwart the evil designs of its enemies," Gilani said in a statement late Sunday after inviting the PML-N back into the coalition it left over a dispute with the PPP over the judiciary.
The two biggest parties had a common objective to strengthen democratic institutions and to steer the country out of its present challenges, Gilani said.