Sharif seeks united front to face challenges

PAKISTAN: Pakistan’s former two-time Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, has urged all political parties to help him tackle problems facing the violence-wracked country. Sharif made the appeal in a speech at his party headquarters in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday.

He asked all parties “to come to the table and sit with me and solve the country’s problems.”

“We should thank Allah that he has given PML-N [Muslim League] another chance to serve you and Pakistan,” Sharif said.

Sharif has declared victory for his center-right party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, in Pakistan’s general elections.

Officials say nearly 60 percent of the 86 million voters turned out in the elections in which about 86 million people were eligible to vote.

Elections for a total of 577 seats in the four provincial assemblies were also held on the same day. The new government will face stalled economy, profound infrastructural failure, and grave threats from an emboldened Taliban.

Musharraf party wins two seats

Supporters of Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf won two seats in the northwestern district of Chitral after flouting a party boycott of landmark elections, official results showed Monday.

The Pakistan election commission announced on its website that Iftikhar Uddin won Chitral’s only seat in the national assembly and Haji Ghulam Muhammad gained its sole seat in the provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Both contested on behalf of the All Pakistan League Party (APML), which Musharraf founded in exile before he returned home and was put under house arrest, barred from contesting the elections in person.

Indian PM invites Sharif

Congratulating PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday expressed India’s desire to work with the new government in the neighbouring country.

He also invited Sharif to visit India.

“PM extends his congratulations to Nawaz Sharif and his party for their emphatic victory in Pakistan’s elections,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted as it congratulated the people and the political parties of Pakistan for “braving the threats of violence and voting in large numbers”.

“PM expressed India’s desire to work with the new government of Pakistan in charting a new course for the relationship between the two countries,” said another tweet. The Prime Minister, in another post invited Sharif “to visit India at a mutually convenient time”.

Nawaz Sharif was poised to return to power after a 14-year hiatus as results of the National Assembly elections started trickling in and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led in the elections by a big margin over other rivals.

Obama congratulates Pakistan on vote

President Barack Obama congratulated Pakistan Sunday on its parliamentary elections and said Washington was ready to work “as equal partners” with the government that emerges.

“My administration looks forward to continuing our cooperation with the Pakistani government that emerges from this election as equal partners in supporting a more stable, secure, and prosperous future for the people of Pakistan,” Obama said in a statement.

He congratulated “the people of Pakistan on the successful completion of yesterday’s parliamentary elections. “The United States stands with all Pakistanis in welcoming this historic peaceful and transparent transfer of civilian power, which is a significant milestone in Pakistan’s democratic progress,” he said.

“By conducting competitive campaigns, freely exercising your democratic rights, and persevering despite intimidation by violent extremists, you have affirmed a commitment to democratic rule that will be critical to achieving peace and prosperity for all Pakistanis for years to come,” he said.

Press Tv, Deccan Herald, AFP