LONDON, Dec 21: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday formally launched what his party has described as his major political initiative by talking to Benazir Bhutto and Qazi Hussain Ahmed on telephone and inviting their views on his five-point agenda and his proposal to hold an all parties conference (APC) to discuss the issue of collectively resigning from the National Assembly.

Party sources said the response from the two leaders was positive “with Qazi Hussain Ahmed terming the initiative as the need of the hour that should be pursued without delay”.

Mr Sharif is understood to have apprised the two leaders of his initiative and informed them that formal letters along with a five-point agenda had already been sent to them.

Later talking to the media, he said that his five-point agenda guaranteed the only mechanism for restoration of constitutional rule in the country. He said that this agenda should be turned into what he called a ‘charter of demands’ as it was the minimum common agenda to unite all parties other than those supporting President Pervez Musharraf.

The PML-N chief said that there was a long charge-sheet against General Musharraf, and the opposition should resign from the National Assembly collectively after submitting this charge-sheet to the people of Pakistan.

He said a united struggle should be launched by the opposition, and his party -- being a component of the ARD -- wished the MMA well as any split in the religious alliance at this time would benefit General Musharraf.

He said the upcoming elections should be used by the opposition to put Pakistan back on track rather than for attaining power. He said the prevailing phenomenon of ‘might is right’ must be reversed and for this the struggle required extra effort that his party was willing to put in. He admitted that this was a difficult struggle requiring supreme effort, but he said eventually it would succeed.

Mr Sharif dispelled the notion that there were any fissures in the PML-N on the policy to fight dictatorship and said that ‘defiance rather than deals’ was the party’s creed at present.

He said that mere change of faces in the present setup would solve nothing and only a popular uprising through a movement would solve Pakistan’s problems and therefore it was in the national interest to pursue this.

Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s Professor Sajid Mir, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and head of Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party Mahmood Khan Achakzai were also present on the occasion.

Prof Mir said there was unanimity of views between him and Mr Sharif and the solution to the constitutional crisis was more important than that of people’s social problems.