PESHAWAR, Aug 12: The newly-formed Pakistan People's Party has vowed to continue its political support to President Pervez Musharraf in the greater interest of the country's economic and political stability.

Speaking at a press conference at a local hotel on Wednesday, Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal said that the merger of PPP's splinter groups would give a new life to the followers of the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who had set a new trend in politics and made the downtrodden people aware of their rights.

Mr Rao, who was accompanied by Interior Minister Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat, Water and Power Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao and Minister of State for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Raza Hayat Hiraj, said the PPP had decided to play a pragmatic and positive role to keep the democratic process on track.

"We are part of the government which has painted a new image of the country in the comity of nations. Now we are strong at home as well as on international fronts," he added.

He lauded the efforts made by Gen Musharraf to steer the country out of the manifold crises, a result of 9/11, by siding with the international coalition against global terrorism.

It was also a great achievement of President Musharaf that the country's economy had been put on sound footing, he added. Mr Sherpao, who is the president of the united PPP after the merger of Patriots and Sherpao groups, announced the names of PPP office-bearers for the NWFP.

He said all these persons had been vested with new responsibilities in view of their contribution and commitment to the party programme. He said the united party would win the next local bodies and national elections scheduled for 2007 and emerge as a force to reckon with. "Our party will turn Pakistan into a liberal and enlightened country and root out all forms of fanaticism," he added.

He read out the names of newly nominated party office-bearers. Nowshera Nazim Pervez Khattak has been made president, his son and MPA Sikanadar Hayat Khan general-secretary, Ghanidad Khan senior vice-president, Makhdoom Syed Mureed Kazim, Jamshed Khan and Haji Mohammad Baz Khan vice-presidents, Fazal Reman alias Nono and Sadullah Shah deputy secretaries, Syed Kamal Shah information secretary, Mumtaz Iqbal joint secretary and Malik Zarawar Khan finance secretary.

He said MPAs Rifat Akbar Swati and Nasreen Khattak would be president and general-secretary, respectively, of women's wing. MPA Mrs Imbisat Khan from Punjab would be the central president of the party's women wing, he added.

Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said the united PPP would continue its political stance on President Musharraf's uniform, because it (uniform) had the force to ward off political turmoils and dangers in the future.

The continuity and consensus on political issues were inevitable for running the present, nascent democratic system smoothly, he added. He said political deadlock in the past had not only jolted the political system, but had also pushed the country towards a retrogressive path. In the past, fanaticism and extremism had brought a bad name for the country, but now Pakistan had restored its good image, he added.