Sharif’s party to contest polls

A large boycott would undermine Musharraf’s efforts to legitimise the new presidential term he won in October in a vote by a Parliament stacked with his supporters. US Ambassador Anne Patterson has repeatedly urged all opposition parties to take part in the elections.

The All Parties Democratic Movement, comprised 33 parties and political groups, met throughout the day in Lahore, seeking to put together a common front on the issue, but could not agree on a joint position.

The decision to let the APDM members make their own decisions was influenced by announcements from Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party and other groups, including the ruling party of President Pervez Musharraf, that they will compete in the crucial elections.

“Since we could not reach any agreement with the PPP and they are contesting the polls, we cannot leave the field open,” said Ahsan Iqbal, spokesperson for Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League(N).

Iqbal said several parties — including the Right-wing Jamat-e-Islami, several nationalist parties and the party of former cricket star Imran Khan — were still pressing for a boycott.

“By going to the polls, we will give legitimacy to Pervez Musharraf and his illegal acts,” said Syed Munawar Hasan, secretary general of Jamat-e-Islami.

Despite the dissension on the issue, chairman of the PML(N) Raja Zafarul Haq said the opposition coalition remains committed to fight Musharraf’s dictatorship.

“Opposition parties can take different paths but their aim is common — rule of law and get rid of dictatorship,” Haq said. He said Sharif will start trying to mobilise the masses by visiting Faislabad, Karachi in the coming days.

Ongoing talks on a list of preconditions for opposition participation between Sharif’s party and the PPP are deadlocked over the key demand that Musharraf reinstate the judges he sacked and detained.

Sharif’s party earlier had favoured a boycott unless the judges are reinstated, but Bhutto says the new Parliament should take a decision on the issue.