Pakistan’s fragile coalition collapsed today after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s PML(N) pulled out of the ruling alliance and nominated its own candidate for the President’s post. Former Pakistan Supreme Court Chief Justice Syeduzzaman Siddiqui will now take on PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in the Presidential elections slated for September 6.

“We are pulling out of the coalition and will now sit in the Opposition benches in Parliament. We tried our best to keep this coalition alive but all our efforts went in vain. Mr Zardari had promised to restore the deposed judges within 24 hours of Pervez Musharraf’s exit but that didn’t happen. Nevertheless, we’ll continue our struggle to restore the judges and play a constructive role in implementing the charter of democracy,” Sharif told a press conference in Islamabad.

“We want relief from elements which have become bleeding wounds. They broke the coalition, not us,” he said.

Siddiqui, the man named by the PML(N) to contest against Zardari, had refused to take oath from Musharraf. “He is a great Pakistani,” Sharif said.

Farzana Raja, PPP information secretary, told The Indian Express that despite offers from Musharraf to form a coalition with the PML(Q) after the February elections, Zardari approached Sharif. “It seems Sharif wanted to seek revenge from Musharraf, that is why he joined us. Now that his purpose is served, he has abandoned us,” Raja said.