Zardari to run for Pakistan president's post

ISLAMABAD: The leading party in the ruling coalition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Saturday announced it would field party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari for the presidential elections scheduled to be held Sep 6.

"The party has unanimously decided to nominate Mr Zardari for country's top office and I announce that he (Zardari) has accepted the nomination," PPP secretary general Senator Raza Rabbani said at a press conference here, amid "long live Bhuttos" slogans.

The president's office fell vacant on Monday when Pervez Musharraf resigned in the face of imminent impeachment.

Rabbani said PPP parliamentarians and the central executive committee of the party had asked Zardari to run for president and he had agreed. Rabbani also thanked the Mohajir Quami Movement for supporting Zardari's candidature for the presidency.

The major coalition partner Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz reacted cautiously to the announcement, saying their support for Zardari depends on restoration of judges sacked by Musharraf and the constitutional package to withdraw certain powers of the president.

"We'll decide (whether to support Zardari) in our meeting tomorrow (Sunday)," Nawaz Sharif, head of PML-N, told reporters in his hometown Lahore. He said that they have no objection on Zardari's nomination but "they (PPP) should have taken the coalition partners into confidence".

Apparently there is no serious challenge to Zardari and he will have smooth sailing in the polls as the opposition led by former ruling party Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam is not in a position to provide a serious contest.

But if PML-N, which is the second largest party in parliament, decides to contest the presidential polls, Zardari may have a problem.

"The president's office is not a joke. It's very important for states, and to avoid further destabilisation in the country, PPP has nominated Zardari for the post," Rabbani told reporters. He was flanked by other senior PPP leaders.

He said that PPP was confident that PML-N and other two parties in the coalition - Awami National Party (ANP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam  (JUI) "will stay within the coalition and will not destabilise the system which has started gaining roots in the country".

Without answering any query on restoration of judges, the PPP senator said that all issues with the allies would be resolved soon.