Sharif calls for national unity govt without Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: Former premier Nawaz Sharif on Monday demanded the formation of a national unity government without President Pervez Musharraf to hold free, fair and transparent polls in Pakistan.

Addressing a public meeting at Barakao on the outskirts of the federal capital, the PML-N chief said his party would not accept any national unity government headed by Musharraf. "I have never accepted Prevez Musharraf as president," Sharif told a gathering of his supporters.
   
Sharif's comments came amidst reports that the military regime had established contacts with his brother and former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif to explore the possibility of forming a consensus government ahead of the February 18 general election.
   
The PML-N has said Shahbaz's meeting with Brig (retired) Niaz Ahmad, a close aide of Musharraf, had nothing to do with politics. It has also called on Musharraf to step down.

Criticising the current regime's economic policies, Nawaz Sharif said his government had undertaken several development projects, including the construction of motorways and a housing scheme for the poor.
   
It was during his government that Pakistan became a nuclear power but the country had subsequently lost creditability across the world as a result of "flawed policies", he said.

Urging the people not to vote for the PML-Q, which was 'responsible for the Lal Masjid raid and operations in tribal areas", Sharif told them to vote for PML-N candidates in order to bring about a change in the country.

Sharif passed through Islamabad while returning to Lahore from the hill station of Murree, where he had gone with his family for a brief holiday.