A major opposition party backed former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s widower to become Pakistan’s president yesterday, as the power struggle following the resignation of president Pervez Musharraf intensified.
Asif Ali Zardari leads the largest party in the ruling coalition, whose drive to impeach Musharraf persuaded the US ally to quit on Monday after nine years in power.
Zardari has played down speculation that he covets the presidency, which his Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and its allies have vowed to strip of its power.
However, opposition backing will strengthen his hand in a struggle with coalition partner Nawaz Sharif over a compromise candidate to fill the post and the even more urgent issue of restoring judges purged by the former army strongman.
A leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Haider Razvi, said it wanted Zardari as president because of his past sacrifices and for his “wisdom and vision” in handling Musharraf’s ouster.
The MQM, a strong backer of Musharraf, is the second-largest opposition group in parliament.
It dominates Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, and other urban areas in the southern province of Sindh and recently buried its long animosity with the People’s Party.
Razvi called for a president from outside Punjab, Pakistan’s largest and wealthiest province, and said Zardari — a Sindhi — was “most eligible” for the job.
“He is a strong believer in the federation,” Razvi said.
The coalition began wrangling over the fate of Supreme Court judges ousted when Musharraf imposed emergency rule last year, just a day after his resignation.
Sharif, whose government was ousted when Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999, has championed their cause and wants them returned immediately.
The judges could prove useful allies if Sharif tries to make good on a threat to have Musharraf tried for treason. However, Zardari has consistently linked their restoration to constitutional amendments that could limit their powers and ultimately protect the ex-general.
The judges could theoretically overturn an amnesty on graft charges that Musharraf gave to Zardari and Bhutto as part of a doomed power-sharing deal last October before Bhutto’s return from exile.
She was assassinated in a suicide attack in December.
“We have committed ourselves to restoration of the judiciary,” Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, said.
He refused to comment further.
Four hours of talks on the issue on Tuesday produced no breakthrough. Some Sharif lieutenants say they want a deal by tomorrow.
“There is no deadline given by us,” Education Minister Ahsan Iqbal, a leading member of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N, told AFP when asked about reports that it had given Bhutto’s party an ultimatum during the talks.
“We will see after 72 hours and try to resolve this issue as we are committed to the judges’ restoration.”
If they clear that hurdle, the parties must also seek agreement on a candidate for the presidency. People’s Party officials have said it should be a member of their party, although they have yet to name a candidate. Parliament must elect a new president by the middle of next month.
Pakistan’s citizens and Western backers have been urging the government to set aside political bickering and tackle their urgent security and economic problems.
Meanwhile, the death toll from a suicide blast in northwest Pakistan has risen to 30 following the deaths of seven more people overnight, police said yesterday.
The suicide attack happened at a hospital in Dera Ismail Khan on Tuesday as Shiite Muslims gathered to protest the death of a man in a suspected sectarian attack. The dead included three policemen, a police official said, adding that 39 people were wounded in the blast.
Police said they had found the legs of the bomber at the blast site. They suspect the bomber could be a militant from the tribal area near the Afghan border.
“Our initial clues reveal that he [the bomber] was from South Waziristan tribal region,” a senior security official said.
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