ISLAMABAD: Pakistan prosecutors have confirmed they are pressing ahead with corruption cases against opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, a move his supporters said was aimed at further sidelining Sharif’s party ahead of presidential elections.
Members of the main governing Pakistan People’s Party insisted the judicial proceedings had nothing to do with them. But Tuesday’s news threatened to further sour the main ruling party’s relations with Sharif, a popular figure whose party holds the second-largest number of seats in Parliament and which was just days ago part of the ruling coalition.
Asif Ali Zardari, head of the Pakistan People’s Party and widower of slain ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, is expected to easily win the presidency in Saturday’s vote by lawmakers. Sharif’s party is fielding a retired judge as its candidate.
The US is keenly awaiting the outcome of the election in Pakistan, a country it considers crucial in the fight against Islamic extremism. Pakistan has been battling insurgents in its northwest regions near Afghanistan, and police said Tuesday that eight suspected militants had been killed in the Swat Valley area.
In mid-August, Sharif and Zardari’s parties forced longtime US ally Pervez Musharraf to quit the presidency. Sharif left the coalition soon after over disputes about who should succeed Musharraf and how to restore judges the former president sacked last year.
Both Zardari and Sharif have been saddled with corruption allegations over the years, but Zardari has seen cases against him vanish in recent months, thanks in large part to a deal struck with Musharraf to pave the way for Bhutto’s return to the country.
Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, a top prosecutor with the National Accountability Bureau, confirmed Tuesday that it moved late last month to challenge a court decision to indefinitely adjourn a set of cases against Sharif, also a former prime minister.
