Pakistan parties sign coalition pact

Pakistan’s parliamentary election winners agreed to form a coalition government Sunday and promised that they would restore senior judges fired last year by President Pervez Musharraf as he sought to secure his continued rule.

Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose government was ousted in 1999 in a coup led by Musharraf, announced their pact after talks at a resort town in the foothills of the Himalayas.

“We are bound together in the spirit of democracy,” Zardari said at a news conference.

The move has been widely expected since their parties won the Feb. 18 election.

The two parties, both moderate and secular, have vowed to fight Islamic extremism, raising Western hopes of stability and renewed commitment to fighting Al Qaeda and Taliban militants. They have also pledged to tackle mounting economic problems, including inflation and power outages.

However, they have devoted much of their energy to finding ways to cut back the U.S.-backed Musharraf’s powers, which include the right to dismiss the government.

Zardari said his party had signed the agreement in honor of Bhutto, who was assassinated in a Dec. 27 suicide attack, and her desire to put Pakistan back on “the road to democracy.”

He also sought to reassure Western nations who had supported Musharraf for his help in pursuing Al Qaeda and Taliban militants.

“We will not disappoint you,” Zardari said, without elaborating on his counter-terrorism strategy. U.S. officials worry that Al Qaeda is regrouping in Pakistan, and Zardari said it was clear that Musharraf’s eight-year rule “has not worked.”

The new government will be led by Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, which is expected to name its candidate for prime minister this week, Sharif said.

Zardari said the new parliament would pass a resolution within 30 days of its formation to reinstate dozens of judges fired by Musharraf last year, a key demand of Sharif’s.