Sharif Party, PPP to contest Pakistan elections

PAKISTAN, The party of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will take part in scheduled parliamentary elections on January 8, a party spokesman said on Sunday.

Earlier on Sunday, the party of Pakistan opposition leader Sharif said it will reconsider its decision to boycott the next month's elections if Benazir Bhutto's party decides to take part in.

Meanwhile the PPP also announced that it would take part in the forthcoming elections.

Speaking at a news conference after a central executive committee meeting in Naudero in the southern Sindh province on Sunday, Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari said that PPP would participate in general elections and urged former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif not to boycott elections.

Zardari said he had nominated Amin Fahim, a senior leader of PPP, as the candidate for prime minister in general elections. However, the party would make a final decision in this regard, he said.

Zardari said that PPP did not have confidence that the elections would be free. However, he urged people to vote for PPP in the forthcoming elections.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), led by Sharif, announced on Sunday that it would review its decision to boycott the general elections if PPP decided to take part in them. Information Secretary of PML-N Ahsan Iqbal said that it wanted to show solidarity with PPP and tried to persuade them to boycott the elections but failed.

He elaborated that the boycott of general elections would be meaningless without the support of other parties including PPP.

President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday said the government would make a final decision on the postponement of the elections in view of PPP's stance.

The Election Commission of Pakistan will convene an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss issues regarding the elections.

Islamabad, Monday, Xinhua