WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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Pakistani opposition leader Sharif detained
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-15 19:09
The ruling nullified a by-election victory by Shahbaz Sharif and disqualified him from holding the office of chief minister of Punjab, the most populous and influential of Pakistan's four provinces. The Sharif party's government was thrown out of power in Punjab and Zardari imposed central rule there for two months. Some analysts say Zardari did not want the Sharifs in control of the country's most important province while backing the long march protest.
The protesters' main demand is the reinstatement of former Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was dismissed in 2007 by then president and army chief Pervez Musharraf. Zardari, widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, has refused to reinstate the judge. A senior official in Zardari's party said on Saturday the president was refusing to cave in to pressure from Sharif and his supporters in the media. "What Nawaz Sharif is offering is a future of overturning the electoral mandate by generating a mob," said the official, who declined to be identified. "Let him bring a resolution to parliament and see if he can get a majority." The official also dismissed talk of any "erosion" in support from the United States or the army. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke by telephone to Zardari and the Sharifs on Saturday.
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