Zardari woos opposition to end Pak crisis
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
ISLAMABAD, Maar 23 (Reuters): President Asif Ali Zardari called for national reconciliation in a Pakistan Day message Monday, as he sought to mend fences with the opposition after defusing a political crisis by restoring the country's top judge.
The reinstatement of Iftikhar Chaudhry as Supreme Court chief justice a week ago averted a looming violent street confrontation.
But tension has lingered between Zardari's party and its main rival, the party of former prime minister and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, in particular over control of Punjab, Pakistan's most populous and most politically influential province.
Pakistan's Western allies fear political upheaval distracts the nuclear-armed country, a key US ally, from fighting spreading Islamist militancy and reviving its flagging economy.
"On this day I urge everyone to work in the spirit of tolerance, mutual accommodation and respect for dissent and invite every one to participate in the national effort for ... reconciliation and healing the wounds," Zardari said.
Zardari, whose party heads a civilian government that came to power a year ago after eight years of military rule, said the rule of law and constitutionalism had at times been "trampled by dictators", a cycle that he said had to come to an end.
The restoration of Chaudhry and other judges had raised the expectation of the people that the cycle was ending, he said.
On Sunday, Zardari, the widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, delivered a message of reconciliation to Sharif through Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Sharif welcomed the call, saying reconciliation was the "need of the time".
Despite that, potentially divisive issues remain including the question of Sharif's eligibility for elected office and who controls Punjab province.
The Supreme Court ruled on Febuary 25 that Sharif and his politician brother, Shahbaz, were ineligible to hold elected office. The ruling nullified a by-election victory by Shahbaz Sharif and disqualified him from being chief minister of Punjab.
The reinstatement of Iftikhar Chaudhry as Supreme Court chief justice a week ago averted a looming violent street confrontation.
But tension has lingered between Zardari's party and its main rival, the party of former prime minister and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, in particular over control of Punjab, Pakistan's most populous and most politically influential province.
Pakistan's Western allies fear political upheaval distracts the nuclear-armed country, a key US ally, from fighting spreading Islamist militancy and reviving its flagging economy.
"On this day I urge everyone to work in the spirit of tolerance, mutual accommodation and respect for dissent and invite every one to participate in the national effort for ... reconciliation and healing the wounds," Zardari said.
Zardari, whose party heads a civilian government that came to power a year ago after eight years of military rule, said the rule of law and constitutionalism had at times been "trampled by dictators", a cycle that he said had to come to an end.
The restoration of Chaudhry and other judges had raised the expectation of the people that the cycle was ending, he said.
On Sunday, Zardari, the widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, delivered a message of reconciliation to Sharif through Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Sharif welcomed the call, saying reconciliation was the "need of the time".
Despite that, potentially divisive issues remain including the question of Sharif's eligibility for elected office and who controls Punjab province.
The Supreme Court ruled on Febuary 25 that Sharif and his politician brother, Shahbaz, were ineligible to hold elected office. The ruling nullified a by-election victory by Shahbaz Sharif and disqualified him from being chief minister of Punjab.