Nawaz pulls out of Pakistan's coalition government

PARTING OF WAYS: PML-N accuses PPP of not honouring commitment to reinstate sacked judges.

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Islamabad: The Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) pulled out of Pakistan's ruling coalition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Monday.

“It is with great regret that we are quitting the coalition with the PPP. We have been forced to leave the coalition by Asif Ali Zardari's actions,” PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif said in a press conference after top leaders from the two parties met on Monday.

“We have resolved to sit in the opposition. We will function as a responsible and constructive opposition and will not seek to destabilise the government. We are committed to full democracy, independent judiciary and constitutional governance in Pakistan,” Nawaz added.

Nawaz nominated Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui as PML-N’s presidential candidate. “Our candidate for president is not affiliated to any party,” Nawaz said.

Reacting to PML-N’s decision, PPP sources told CNN-IBN that they are confident that their government will not collapse for the want of numbers.

The PML-N is against the PPP's decision to elect Asif Ali Zardari as President.

On September 6, Pakistan will hold a presidential election and as per the country's constitution, the members of the four provincial assemblies in the national parliament will nominate the new president.

Nawaz Sharif told CNN-IBN minutes before a crucial meeting on Monday that his party would prefer the election to take place in October rather than September.

Speaking exclusively to CNN on the issue, Nawaz Sharif said, “Zardari is not fulfilling his promises of the agreement. It was decided that judges would be restored in 24 hours after the departure of Musharraf but that also not happened.”

“It was decided that Presidential candidate will be from consensus but strange to know he announced his name …we are likely to withdraw support today after the meeting,” he added.

Sharif is clear that he feels betrayed and that Asif Ali Zardari had gone back on his assurance that the new president would be nominated from a political consensus.

As Benazir Bhutto's widower, Zardari might seem an obvious choice for the PPP but the 55-year-old who was a former minister in one of her governments is a controversial leader as he has battled allegations of embezzlement and corruption for years.

Zardari was named co-chairman of the PPP after Bhutto's death in December last year. His son Bilawal too is co-nominated but since Bilawal is still in university, it is Zardari who controls the PPP.

The PPP won the most seats in a February parliamentary election. Zardari, who led his party to victory then shook hands with Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister of Pakistan and a once-adversary of his wife.

Speaking exclusively to CNN on the issue, Nawaz Sharif said, “ Zardari is not full filling his promises of the agreement…It was decided that judges will be restored in 24 hours after the departure of Musharraf but that also not happened.”

“It was decided that Presidential candidate will be from consensus but strange to know he announced his name …we are likely to withdraw support today after the meeting,” he added.