The decision to contest the general elections has come after the group failed to agree a boycott with Benazir Bhutto, his opposition rival. Both sides have complained that the poll would not be fair as a state of emergency was imposed by President Pervez Musharraf. He plans to lift the emergency on December 15, which is a day ahead of schedule.
This state of emergency was been in place for over a month.
The decision that the PML-N would stand in the elections for parliament came after thirty-three opposition groups including Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party have all met in Lahore. However, they had failed to reach a joint decision regarding the matter.
“Since we could not reach any agreement with the People’s Party and they are contesting polls, we cannot leave the field open,” according to PML-N’s spokesman, Ahsan Iqbal.
Ahsan Iqbal has also stated that the party’s manifesto would demand the restoration of judges deposed by President Musharraf in November. Ms. Bhutto’s stance is that the new parliament should decide whether to reinstate the judges.
Bhutto argues that a boycott of the polls would leave the field open for Musharraf’s supporters. According to Roland Buerk of BBC, a joint boycott would hurt the credibility of the election. While both sides distrust Musharraf, Mr. Sharif and Ms. Bhutto seem to be more suspicious of each other.
Right now, Mr. Sharif is barred from standing in the election due to criminal convictions against him. He was found guilty of hijacking and terrorism by ordering a plane that carried General Musharraf back to Pakistan to be disallowed from landing.