Islamabad: Pakistan`s main opposition party said on Monday it would not support any unconstitutional action against President Asif Ali Zardari or his government but warned of protests if Zardari did not give up some powers.
Political tension has been running high in Pakistan since last week when the Supreme Court threw out an amnesty that protected him, several government ministers and thousands of others from corruption charges.
Zardari has faced some calls to resign but he has rejected them. He and his ruling party issued a defiant statement on the weekend, saying no members of the government would resign and condemning what they called a witch-hunt against them.
Several of Zardari`s aides and two of his top ministers -- Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar -- were also on a list of people protected by the amnesty, and they too are facing calls to quit.
While some members of the main opposition party, led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, have called for Zardari and the two ministers to step down, the party has been circumspect.
A spokesman for the party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), said the party felt it was the "moral duty" of Zardari and the two ministers to step down, but it was up to them.
"If Mr Zardari and his ministers, who were covered by the amnesty, do not resign, that`s completely up to them," the spokesman, Siddiqul Farooq, told a news conference.
"Mr Nawaz Sharif has very clearly stated that democracy has to go on and if someone thinks that he will do something unconstitutional, he won`t get our support."
Sharif`s party would not be part of any unconstitutional move against Zardari, the spokesman said.
"Pay the price"
The political tension comes as the United States has intensified pressure on its nuclear-armed ally to clear out Afghan Taliban along the Afghan border while Pakistan is battling its homegrown militants and their suicide bombers.
The unpopular Zardari, who is close to the United States, has been dogged by accusations of graft from the 1990s when his late wife, Benazir Bhutto, was prime minister. He says the charges were politically motivated.
He was covered by the 2007 amnesty, introduced by former president Pervez Musharraf as part of a power-sharing deal with Bhutto, but he cannot be prosecuted now that the amnesty is over because he is protected by presidential immunity.
Polls show two-time prime minister Sharif, who has also faced corruption charges and spent time in prison, is Pakistan`s most popular politician. Analysts say his party would likely win the next general election, due by 2013.
Bureau Report
