Nawaz's ultimatum

BY expressing his readiness to accept Mr Zardari as president if he removes the 17th Amendment, Mian Nawaz has thrown the ball in PPP's court leaving it to its leadership to decide whether to take the office stripped of its powers to dismiss parliament. The comment came after a PPP delegation met him on Saturday to solicit support for Mr Zardari in the presidential election. Mian Nawaz later told journalists that since the two mainstream parties had an agreement that the next president would be elected after the removal of the 17th Amendment, the PPP would be justified in nominating its candidate after its repeal. Mr Zardari has meanwhile won the unanimous backing of his central executive committee, including two of his outspoken critics Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Mr Aitzaz Ahsan. But he is yet to officially announce his candidature.