ISLAMABAD, Pakistan- On Thursday, Pakistan’s two main opposition parties announced that they had formed a coalition government.  After winning the majority of parliamentary seats in Monday’s election (see Impunity Watch briefhere), the parties agreed to put aside their differences and agree upon “a common agenda.”

It is expected that the coalition opposition government will put further pressure on President Pervez Musharraf.  The parties have already agreed thatMusharraf should immediately reinstate the chief justice he fired in November, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Pakistan People’s Party leader, Asif Zardari, said that the parties had “a lot of ground to cover” but “in principle [they] have agreed to stay together.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Pakistan parties agree to coalition – 21 February 2008