Sharif pulls party out of coalition

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pulled his party out of the ruling coalition yesterday, deepening a political crisis that has diverted government attention from pressing security and economic problems.

The move came just a week after the coalition parties had celebrated the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf in the face of the coalition's threat to impeach him.

Mr Sharif said the party of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, which leads the coalition, had repeatedly broken promises on resolving a judicial dispute and on who should be the next President.

"We therefore feel that these repeated defaults and violations have forced us to withdraw our support from the ruling coalition and sit on the opposition benches," Mr Sharif told a news conference.

The departure of his party is not expected to force a general election as Mrs Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), now led by her widower Asif Ali Zardari, should be able to gather enough support to govern, analysts say.

Mr Sharif also said he would not try to destabilise the government. "We'll play the role of a constructive opposition."

The coalition, formed after Mr Musharraf's allies lost a February general election, had looked increasingly precarious since Mr Musharraf resigned a week ago.