WASHINGTON: For the first time in the current political crisis, the United States has clearly said that it considers Nawaz Sharif “the elected leader of Pakistan”.

At a news briefing in Washington, a State Department spokesperson Marie Harf also said that the US ambassador in Islamabad had stayed in touch with relevant Pakistani officials throughout the crisis.

Also read: 2013 elections free and fair, says US

“We have said that Nawaz Sharif is the elected leader of Pakistan,” said Ms Harf when asked if the United States agreed with Imran Khan’s claim that Mr Sharif was not an elected leader because the 2013 elections were rigged.

On Wednesday, another State Department official, Jen Psaki, had declared that the US believed the 2013 elections were fair and free but did not respond to questions about the prime minister.

In earlier briefings, the State Department had made it clear that the US would not endorse any “violent” or “extra-constitutional” changes in Pakistan.

When asked if they believed the current situation might lead to a military coup, US officials said they could “not predict the outcome”.

At the latest briefing, a journalist asked Ms Harf to state unequivocally if they supported the prime minister against the protesters camping outside the parliament building.

“Yes, we still do. He is the elected leader. We’ve said that repeatedly, and we’ve been carefully monitoring the demonstrations in Islamabad,” said Ms Harf while referring to earlier statements of support for Mr Sharif issued before the PTI-PAT march.

She also pointed out that the United States had consistently encouraged all the parties to work together to resolve their differences through dialogue.

The United States, she said, opposed any efforts to impose extra-constitutional change to the democratic system and that’s why it wanted the warring factions to resolve this dispute peacefully.

“We’re monitoring it. Obviously, our ambassador remains in touch with Pakistani officials, but not much more analysis than that,” said Ms Harf when the journalists asked for more comments.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2014