Zardari downplays rift in Pak coalition
Xamar Radio
Pakistan People's Party Co-Chairman plays down a rift that has emerged between his ruling faction and its ally, Sharif's PML-N Party.

In his first public comments on the split in the coalition, Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower who has led Pakistan People's Party (PPP) since her killing in December, said he wanted Nawaz Sharif to remain a partner.

"I am not looking at a minus Nawaz position, I'm looking at a plus Nawaz league position, where I take him on every step," Zardari told a news conference in Islamabad on late Wednesday.

"Even if we disagree on some (issues) we should agree on most of them," he added.

Zardari called the dispute a minor matter and said he expected Sharif's party to re-join the government.

Nine Cabinet ministers from Sharif's PML-N party submitted their resignations Tuesday. The move came after the main coalition partners failed to meet a deadline to reinstall the judges earlier fired by President Pervez Musharraf.

The ministers were sworn in on March 31 after Sharif joined a coalition with the Pakistan People's Party following their massive victory over Musharraf's allies in February 18 general elections.

Musharraf fired scores of senior judges last year after they questioned the legitimacy of his re-election as president while serving as Pakistan's top military officer.