London, Aug. 5 : PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has urged the Pakistan Army to pledge never to violate the constitution by declaring martial law and seizing power.

"And the time has now come for the army to give a pledge to the nation that it would never ever violate the constitution or declare martial law," The Dawn quoted him, as saying.

Describing the July 31 verdict of the Supreme Court as `historic and balanced', Sharif declared he would resolutely oppose any `extra-constitutional' move to interfere with the present democratic dispensation or attempts to remove the government through `illegal' means.

He said the government should now initiate a process to remove the 17th Amendment from the Constitution.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function hosted by the UK wing of the party, he said he was aware that the country was faced with gigantic problems but that should not be an excuse to curtail the democratic process.

"In fact it is by adhering to the democratic process that we would be able to overcome these problems, be they economic or issues of provincial disharmony or disillusionment of different sections of society," he added.

Answering a question, Sharif said Musharraf should be made to pay for violating the constitution.

"I am not saying this out of a sense of revenge but it is the nation which had suffered enormously because of his illegal and unconstitutional actions and it is the nation which has the right to hold him accountable," he said. (ANI)