Sharif's party will contest Pakistan elections: spokesmen
Posted: 31 December 2007 0009 hrs

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ISLAMABAD : The party of former Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif will take part in scheduled elections on January 8, after earlier saying it would boycott, two spokesmen told AFP on Sunday.

"We will contest the election," a party spokesman said.

Meanwhile a personal spokesman for Sharif said the decision was taken after slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari had asked Sharif's party to participate.

"No major party should boycott because it would damage democracy," the spokesman, Zaeem Qadri, quoted Zardari as telling Sharif.

The party said the boycott had been announced as a gesture of solidarity after Bhutto was assassinated at a campaign rally on Thursday.

Bhutto had come back to Pakistan from exile in October to contest the elections. - AFP/de

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