LAHORE, Pakistan, (AP)—Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday said his party would abide by the decision of the All Parties Democratic Movement to boycott the next general election if the opposition demand that Supreme Court judges sacked by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf earlier this month be reinstated was not met. "We do not want to boycott the elections but we have been pushed to the wall, the nation has been pushed to the wall," he said.
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Sharif returned to Pakistan on Sunday after seven years of forced exile. He addressed a press conference in Lahore. He said that if the opposition boycotted the elections, it would be a boycott for the restoration of the Constitution and not that of the elections.
Asked if he was ready to work with Musharraf, he said he would never agree to serve as prime minister under Musharraf.
Sharif said he was in touch with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, adding she had disagreed that the opposition should boycott if the judiciary was not restored.
Sharif said it was for the first time in the history of Pakistan-U.S. relations that the United States was projecting to be supporting the aspirations of the people of Pakistan. However, he appealed to Washington to demand the restoration of the judiciary. "The U.S. must clearly say that judges must be restored. The lifting of the emergency alone would not solve the problem," he said.