'PPP risks losing popular support'

PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif has said that the Murree Accord should have been honoured and stepping back from the commitment of such a magnitude will definitely damage the credibility of the coalition. Talking to Waqt TV channel on Friday, Nawaz said people of Pakistan want to see the judges back on pre-Nov 3 position and added that public demand should not be ignored for a long time. "In order to address other problems of the country, the issue of judiciary should be resolved immediately," Nawaz said. To a question, he said PML-N had quit ministries over the issue of judiciary because country's stability is far more important than any other gains. Online adds: Nawaz Sharif has said that his coalition partner Asif Zardari risks losing popular support after failing to honour an agreement to reinstate judges fired by President Musharraf. "I am disappointed and dismayed that he did not keep a promise,'' Sharif said in an interview with "Bloomberg" at his residence here on Friday. "The blame will come on the party which will back out, not the one which is not backing out.'' Nawaz Sharif, 58, pulled his ministers out of the Cabinet on May 13 after Zardari backtracked on reinstating the judiciary. "The people will get disappointed if we do not honour our commitment,'' Sharif said. "We signed a clear declaration which has not been honoured.'' Peoples Party spokesman Farhatullah Babar said he couldn't immediately comment on Sharif's remarks. Zardari has resisted calls by Sharif to impeach the president because he says the party doesn't have the necessary votes in the parliament's upper house. "How can we reconcile with a man who has abrogated the Constitution,'' Sharif said. He has committed serious crimes and he must be tried in a court.'' The question of impeaching Musharraf has distracted the three-month-old government from tackling food shortages and spiralling inflation at a 30-year high. The benchmark index fell as much as 3 percent, extending its decline to 26 percent since a record on April 18. "It was a clear mandate and the people rejected his policies,'' Sharif said. "He must quit.'' Zardari has proposed a constitutional amendment to strip Musharraf's most important remaining powers, the ability to dissolve parliament and appoint military chiefs. The coalition would need defections among Musharraf loyalists in the upper house Senate to impeach the president or pass the amendment. "The Murree declaration clearly speaks of reinstatement of judges through a parliamentary resolution and not through a constitutional amendment that Zardari has sent us,'' Sharif said. Zardari's proposal will be tantamount to accepting Musharraf's unconstitutional actions of Nov 3, he said.

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