Pakistan court allows Sharifs to take back Punjab province

Pakistan's Supreme Court yesterday suspended a ruling barring former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother from holding elected office and restored their government in the key province of Punjab.

President Asif Ali Zardari plunged Pakistan into a political crisis a month ago by dismissing the government in Punjab after the Supreme Court ruled that the Mr Sharif brothers could not hold elected office because of old convictions.

The court in its latest decision suspended the late February ruling and allowed Shahbaz Sharif, who was Chief Minister of Punjab, to resume office.

"The operation of the February 25 order has been suspended," Judge Tassaquq Hussain Jilani told the court.

However, while Shahbaz Sharif has been allowed to resume office, Nawaz Sharif must await a final petition ruling which seeks to lift a ban on him running for Parliament. The former Prime Minister is currently not a member of Parliament.

President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani welcomed the restoration of Mr Sharif's government in Punjab and hoped it would promote political reconciliation in the country.

"It is hoped that the restoration of government in Punjab will take the process of reconciliation further forward and help in diluting the bitterness generated recently," a spokesman for Mr Zardari said in a statement.

Speaking to Reuters shortly before the verdict, Mr Sharif said he "very much" wanted reconciliation but President Zardari needed to do more to dispel mistrust.

"I am not very keen simply to become the Prime Minister or the President. We will wait until the next election. We want to support the centre, we want to support the present government in Islamabad," he said.

However, he said Mr Zardari should agree to give up his sweeping powers, including the power to dismiss a government, and implement an agreement he had signed with Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister and Mr Zardari's wife who was assassinated in a suicide gun and bomb attack in December 2007.

"The country will be very unlucky if these powers are not given back to the Parliament and the Prime Minister. We want the same system as Britain and India."

The one-year-old civilian federal government led by President Zardari appeared shaky last month as Mr Sharif drove through Punjab at the head of a mass protest that raised fears of a violent climax in Islamabad.