Pak's ruling party prefers Sharif to Bhutto as PM

The top leadership of Pakistan's ruling party would prefer to see deposed Premier Nawaz Sharif, rather than self-exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, at the helm of the government if their outfit fails to do well in the general polls, a daily reported on Saturday.

"Pakistan Muslim League feels more comfortable with PML-Nawaz than Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party.

Our top leaders want to see Sharif as the Prime Minister in case our party does badly in the upcoming general elections," the Dawn quoted the ruling party sources as saying in Islamabad.

In fact, the acrimony with the PPP is so deep that some of PML's senior leaders are absolutely upbeat after the Supreme Court's recent verdict, allowing Sharif and his brother Shahbaz to return to Pakistan after seven years in "forced" exile.

"Our leadership feels the long absence of the Sharif brothers from the country and our own performance in the last few years will give the PML-N an edge in the general elections slated for later this year," the unnamed party sources were quoted as saying.

"Even junior and middle-level PML leaders are trying to convince our leadership to make sure that the division of League votes does not benefit Bhutto's party in the polls," the sources said.

In a related development, the sources claimed, PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvaiz Elahi had recently met Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rahman to offer him some concessions from the establishment for his cooperation.

The two had asked Rahman to ensure that at least Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) legislators would not resign, along with other opposition parties, and do not recommend dissolution of the North West Frontier Province Assembly.