Feb. 22 Pakistan's two main opposition parties, which have never worked together in the nation's 60- year existence, have united in their rejection of President Pervez Musharraf's rule.
Now, they must get down to the work of fixing power shortages, reining in inflation and stopping terrorist attacks along the Afghan border that have made Pakistan an international byword for insecurity.
``The first challenge for both of them will be to stay together,'' said Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, associate professor of international relations at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad. ``So far only one agenda has bound them together, which is opposing Musharraf. The immediate challenges will be on the economic and foreign policy front.''
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, 58, and Pakistan Peoples Party leader Asif Ali Zardari, 51, late yesterday said they will support each other, setting aside decades of political rivalry to challenge Musharraf's military-backed rule.
``We plan to be in parliament together, to strengthen democracy together and to build a stronger Pakistan together,'' Zardari, husband of the slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, told a joint news conference in the capital, Islamabad.
Sharif said he respected the PPP's mandate and its right to form a government. ``We will not cause any problems to the government,'' said Sharif, who returned from seven years in exile to contest the election. ``We will allow it to complete its five years.''
Manage Economy
The new government will have to manage an economy where rising food prices and power shortages have curbed growth. The alliance will be key for U.S. foreign policy in the region, as the Bush administration has pumped $10 billion into Pakistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to fund military operations against the militant Islamic Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The country's two most popular political groups were bitter rivals when Sharif and Bhutto alternated power four times between 1988 and 1999. The group will need to ally with other political organizations to secure the two-thirds majority needed to challenge the legitimacy of Musharraf's rule.
While neither mentioned the possibility of impeaching Musharraf, Sharif said the president must resign. Zardari was less specific: ``The mandate of the people is clear,'' he said.
Dissatisfaction with Musharraf's steering of the economy was one of the biggest reasons why voters opposed his party in elections Feb. 18, according to polls before the vote. With borrowing costs at a six-year high the new government may have to spend on subsidies to meet voter demands to cut fuel and food costs.
``The chance is the new coalition government will go by impulse and will take populist decisions,'' said Sakib Sherani, chief economist at ABN Amro Bank Pakistan in Karachi. ``You have got high and accelerating inflation and runaway borrowing by the government from the central bank.''
Inflation Accelerated
Inflation accelerated the most in 33 months in January on higher wheat flour prices, pushed up by shortages caused by hoarding before the elections and smuggling of grain to neighboring Afghanistan. Prices have risen more than 20 percent since November in Pakistan, the world's sixth-largest grain consumer.
Textile makers, the drivers of 60 percent of the country's exports, are losing overseas orders to rivals in India and China after month-long power and natural gas cuts shut down most factories, disrupting production.
The shortage of energy supplies had caused a $1 billion loss of exports by the end of January, according to the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association. More than 3,000 spinning and weaving factories have closed, said Anis-ulhaq, secretary of the textile maker's group.
Military Coup
Sharif said the provision Musharraf had lawmakers insert into the constitution that give him the power to dissolve the Parliament will be ``taken care of.'' He said the new Parliament will restore the 1973 constitution, which doesn't include such powers.
The party leaders also said they will find common ground in deciding what to do about former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other Supreme Court judges who were sacked and detained by Musharraf because he feared they would declare his continued rule illegal.
Sharif yesterday joined lawyers demonstrating outside the compound in Islamabad where Chaudhry is under house arrest. Zardari has previously voiced his support for an independent judiciary without calling for the justices' reinstatement.
``In principle there is no disagreement on the restoration of the judges,'' said Sharif. ``We will work out the modalities in the parliament.''
Sharif last led Pakistan in 1999 before he was ousted by Musharraf in a military coup. Zardari has little political experience, having only taken over running the PPP when his wife was assassinated on Dec. 27.
The PPP won the most seats in the parliamentary elections, without securing enough to form a government on its own. Zardari earlier said he'd work with the Awami National Party, which ousted pro-Taliban religious parties in the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan.
President George W. Bush said he hoped the new government would be an ally for the U.S. in the fight against extremists. Zardari on Feb. 20 said the majority of Pakistanis opposed the ``Talibanization'' of the South Asian nation after supporters of the Islamic group were routed in the elections.
``Between my party and his we have the solutions,'' Zardari said. ``We have to have a political solution to all Pakistan's problems.''
Now, they must get down to the work of fixing power shortages, reining in inflation and stopping terrorist attacks along the Afghan border that have made Pakistan an international byword for insecurity.
``The first challenge for both of them will be to stay together,'' said Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, associate professor of international relations at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad. ``So far only one agenda has bound them together, which is opposing Musharraf. The immediate challenges will be on the economic and foreign policy front.''
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, 58, and Pakistan Peoples Party leader Asif Ali Zardari, 51, late yesterday said they will support each other, setting aside decades of political rivalry to challenge Musharraf's military-backed rule.
``We plan to be in parliament together, to strengthen democracy together and to build a stronger Pakistan together,'' Zardari, husband of the slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, told a joint news conference in the capital, Islamabad.
Sharif said he respected the PPP's mandate and its right to form a government. ``We will not cause any problems to the government,'' said Sharif, who returned from seven years in exile to contest the election. ``We will allow it to complete its five years.''
Manage Economy
The new government will have to manage an economy where rising food prices and power shortages have curbed growth. The alliance will be key for U.S. foreign policy in the region, as the Bush administration has pumped $10 billion into Pakistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to fund military operations against the militant Islamic Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The country's two most popular political groups were bitter rivals when Sharif and Bhutto alternated power four times between 1988 and 1999. The group will need to ally with other political organizations to secure the two-thirds majority needed to challenge the legitimacy of Musharraf's rule.
While neither mentioned the possibility of impeaching Musharraf, Sharif said the president must resign. Zardari was less specific: ``The mandate of the people is clear,'' he said.
Dissatisfaction with Musharraf's steering of the economy was one of the biggest reasons why voters opposed his party in elections Feb. 18, according to polls before the vote. With borrowing costs at a six-year high the new government may have to spend on subsidies to meet voter demands to cut fuel and food costs.
``The chance is the new coalition government will go by impulse and will take populist decisions,'' said Sakib Sherani, chief economist at ABN Amro Bank Pakistan in Karachi. ``You have got high and accelerating inflation and runaway borrowing by the government from the central bank.''
Inflation Accelerated
Inflation accelerated the most in 33 months in January on higher wheat flour prices, pushed up by shortages caused by hoarding before the elections and smuggling of grain to neighboring Afghanistan. Prices have risen more than 20 percent since November in Pakistan, the world's sixth-largest grain consumer.
Textile makers, the drivers of 60 percent of the country's exports, are losing overseas orders to rivals in India and China after month-long power and natural gas cuts shut down most factories, disrupting production.
The shortage of energy supplies had caused a $1 billion loss of exports by the end of January, according to the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association. More than 3,000 spinning and weaving factories have closed, said Anis-ulhaq, secretary of the textile maker's group.
Military Coup
Sharif said the provision Musharraf had lawmakers insert into the constitution that give him the power to dissolve the Parliament will be ``taken care of.'' He said the new Parliament will restore the 1973 constitution, which doesn't include such powers.
The party leaders also said they will find common ground in deciding what to do about former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other Supreme Court judges who were sacked and detained by Musharraf because he feared they would declare his continued rule illegal.
Sharif yesterday joined lawyers demonstrating outside the compound in Islamabad where Chaudhry is under house arrest. Zardari has previously voiced his support for an independent judiciary without calling for the justices' reinstatement.
``In principle there is no disagreement on the restoration of the judges,'' said Sharif. ``We will work out the modalities in the parliament.''
Sharif last led Pakistan in 1999 before he was ousted by Musharraf in a military coup. Zardari has little political experience, having only taken over running the PPP when his wife was assassinated on Dec. 27.
The PPP won the most seats in the parliamentary elections, without securing enough to form a government on its own. Zardari earlier said he'd work with the Awami National Party, which ousted pro-Taliban religious parties in the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan.
President George W. Bush said he hoped the new government would be an ally for the U.S. in the fight against extremists. Zardari on Feb. 20 said the majority of Pakistanis opposed the ``Talibanization'' of the South Asian nation after supporters of the Islamic group were routed in the elections.
``Between my party and his we have the solutions,'' Zardari said. ``We have to have a political solution to all Pakistan's problems.''
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