May 27, 2008	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 21, 1429

ISLAMABAD, May 26: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has condemned the incident in which Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Pervez Elahi was allegedly found pressurising a judge to reject the nomination papers of Pakistan Muslim League-N leaders Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif.

“The conspiracy to manage the rejection of the papers of Nawaz Sharif was simply undemocratic and distasteful,” Mr Zardari said in a statement issued here on Monday.

“The actions of the PML led government in the past had always been dubious and it was known for use of negative tactics to cling to power,” he said and added “the people of Pakistan had given a clear verdict against this kind of governance in the elections 2008 but some people had refused to learn from that”.

Mr Zardari stressed that “such behind the scene manoeuvrings” should be discouraged by all political forces and the journey towards a better and prosperous Pakistan should start with a broad national reconciliation.

“Democracy means providing an opportunity to the people to choose who they want to see as their government. It is not about limiting their choices by putting unfair hurdles in the way of popular political leadership,” he added.