Islamabad, Feb. 27 : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has claimed that he imposed governor's rule in Punjab because he was left with no other constitutional alternative after the Sharif brothers declared "war on the Presidency".

Zardari told members of Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), that Nawaz had declared war following the Supreme Court decision to disqualify the Sharif brothers from elected office, the Daily Times reports.

Sources claimed the CEC adopted a unanimous resolution supporting Zardari's decision of governor's rule in Punjab. Most top leaders of the PPP wanted to negotiate a power-sharing deal with the PML-Q, but some stressed taking the PML-N along to avoid political instability.

The committee empowered the PPP leadership to name a new leader of the House in Punjab and urged that the new chief minister of the country's largest province should be from the PPP.

Zardari and Gilani are expected to establish contacts with the PML-Q for power sharing in Punjab and the Centre.

Earlier in the day, Zardari had said that while the PPP did not believe in confrontation and was pursuing a policy of reconciliation, it knows how to tackle political challenges.

"The PPP is a political force that does not believe in confrontation and had adopted the policy of reconciliation for the sake of democracy and political stability of the country. We will pursue this policy but we also know how to meet political challenges that come our way," he said.

Sources told the paper that "Qasim Zia, Tanvir Ashraf Kaira and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi are in the race for Punjab's top office." (ANI)