LAHORE, June 25: PML-N President Nawaz Sharif says a grand alliance excluding allies of the present government will be formed before the general election.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of PML-N Central Secretariat here on Monday, the former prime minister said: “A grand alliance will come into existence before the next elections. The people, who are allies of present rulers and crutches of an ‘incapable’ and ‘dishonest’ government, will not be included in this alliance.”

He said people could not forget faces of the allies of President Asif Ali Zardari and his government. “Don’t the people know that the present government has given them the worst loadshedding, corruption, terrorism and missing persons, defamed the Supreme Court and trampled the national sovereignty?” he asked. He said the allies were more responsible than the PPP for the present situation.

Though Nawaz did not explain which parties would become part of the proposed alliance, presence of JUP-Noorani leaders at the ceremony and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s visit to Jamaat-i-Islami headquarters a couple of weeks ago suggest that religious parties or right wingers are likely constituents of the coalition.

Shahbaz had told reporters on the occasion that Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf and other parties would be invited to the alliance.

PML-N information secretary Mushahidullah Khan told Dawn that Sindhi and Baloch nationalist forces were likely to be part of the alliance.

Commenting on the election of Raja Pervez Ashraf as new prime minister, the PML-N chief said how many prime ministers President Zardari would sacrifice to protect his wealth in Swiss banks. He said “the main question before the nation is that when will (President) Zardari leave his office”.

Nawaz says he sees no difference between Pervez Musharraf and President Zardari with regard to “dictatorial approach”.

“(President) Zardari within one year after general elections dissolved the Punjab government and imposed Governor’s Rule.

He got me disqualified from ‘Dogar courts’. He deviated from agreements on restoration of judiciary due to which I had to launch a long march to Islamabad. He had been resisting the restoration of judiciary.”

Sharif said there was problem of restoration of judiciary in the Musharraf era and now was the issue of independence of judiciary, its respect and implementation of its decisions. He said PML-N would not allow any plan or conspiracy of the present rulers to succeed against the independent judiciary.

About the secretariat, he said it would play the role of a think-tank for national development. He said he had an experienced and tested team, which had a clear strategy for the future. He urged the youth not to be disappointed because the PML-N would guarantee them a bright future.

Party chairman Raja Zafarul Haq, general secretary Iqbal Zafar Jhaggra, Shahbaz Sharif, Ahsan Iqbal, Ishaq Dar, Mumtaz Bhutto, Mamnoon Hussain, Pir Sabir Shah and Awais Noorani were also present.