Nawaz demands immediate elections

LAHORE:-

                   PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif has demanded that fresh elections should be held in the country immediately.

Talking to a private TV channel on Wednesday, the PML-N chief said problems faced by the country could only be solved if elections were held immediately. He added it was the responsibility of the nation to stand up against the government and ensure that no one played with their mandate. On supporting the PPP, Nawaz said his party tried working with the PPP initially but there was no substance to the relationship.

Nawaz Sharif said all the political parties should go to the people and the people should decide about the future of Pakistan.

The two-time premier said he had advised President Asif Ali Zardari four months ago to hold fresh elections. “It was a sincere advice but President Zardari turned down the proposal,” he said. He said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani could dissolve the National Assembly or lower house of the parliament and announce fresh elections just as he (Sharif) had done in 1993 when he was the premier.

The PPP-led government has rejected similar demands from other opposition parties and said fresh elections will be held in early 2013 after it completes its five-year term.

Sharif has been critical of the government’s policies since he pulled the PML-N out of the ruling coalition in 2008 but never sought fresh polls. The PML-N had joined the government after the 2008 general election in the national interest but could not go along with the PPP because of its policies, he said.

This is the first time that Sharif has called for fresh polls, though other leaders of his party have often said the country’s problems, including corruption and the perceived inefficiency of the Pakistan People’s Party-led government, can only be resolved through mid-term elections.

Meanwhile, PPP’s Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira said that Nawaz Sharif should focus on the next general elections instead of long march as it would be useless. Talking to the media at Allama Iqbal international Airport here before leaving for India, he said staging a long march was right of everyone but the PML-N president should justify it and tell the masses if it aimed at toppling the government.

He said the PPP wanted stability in the country and it was effort of the government and the party to resolve issues by taking all parties on board.

He advised Nawaz Sharif “to resolve problems within the PML-N and to prepare for the next elections which were only one-and-half year away