December 07, 2007	Friday	Ziqa'ad 26, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Dec 6: Chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday called for reconstitution of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), in consultation with all political parties.

Talking to a group of ambassadors of some 20 countries at a local hotel here, Mr Sharif said there should be no interference in the election process by the state or any of its agencies.

He said free and fair elections were not possible under the Musharraf regime and that his and his brother’s nomination papers had been rejected on political grounds.

The PML-N leader said major political parties were joining together in seeking an immediate end to the prevailing “illegitimate” political dispensation.

He said the recent actions of the government clearly showed that it had no intention of providing a level-playing field to all political parties, as was evident from its vindictive rejection of his nomination papers as well as those of Shahbaz Sharif.

Mr Sharif said the country must return to genuine democracy rooted in the will of the people, constitutional supremacy, rule of law, good governance and a culture of political consistency, institutional integrity and a “civilianized” body politic. He said this was possible only through credible, non-controversial, free and fair elections under a truly non- partisan and empowered “national consensus” caretaker government, acceptable to all political parties.

Mr Sharif said Pakistan’s difficulties had been aggravated by long spells of political and socio-economic instability as a result of frequent military takeovers and resultant interruption of democratic process, which inevitably led to undermining of constitutional supremacy and weakening of institutions in the country.

He said Pakistan was currently going through one of the worst crises in its history. He said the draconian Nov 3 measures were an assault, in one stroke, on the Constitution, the judiciary, the media and the fundamental rights of the people.