December 25, 2006	Monday	Zilhaj 03, 1427

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LONDON, Dec 24: Felicitating the nation on the occasion of Christmas and the birth anniversary of the Quaid-i-Azam, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has reiterated his determination to rid the country of what he called the military usurper.

In his message to the nation, Mr Sharif called upon the people to use the occasion for “reorienting” themselves with the philosophy of the Quaid whose “pillars were democracy, rule of law, justice and tolerance”, and to ponder as to how far the nation had moved away from the ideals of the Quaid-i-Azam.

According to a press release issued by the PML-N’s International Secretariat here on Sunday, Mr Sharif said he had recently written letters to leaders of political parties that opposed dictatorship in the hope of jointly making efforts to restore constitutional rule in the country.

Giving details of his contacts with these leaders, he said he had presented them with a five-point agenda entailing restoration of the 1973 Constitution as it existed on Oct 12, 1999, restoration of genuine democracy and supremacy of parliament through impartial, free and fair elections held under a neutral caretaker government that excluded Gen Musharraf and was formed with consent of all democratic political forces in the opposition, a fearlessly free and independent judiciary, an independent and autonomous election commission formed in consultation with and consent of all political democratic forces in the opposition and removal of ‘unconstitutional and unethical restrictions’ on the return to Pakistan of exiled political leaders.

The PML-N leader hoped that with the advent of 2007, all political forces opposed to dictatorship would unite on this minimum common agenda and steer Pakistan back towards the Quaid’s ideals.