World | Pakistan
Sharif alleges bid to buy his silence
The chief of Pakistan's main opposition party alleged yesterday he had been offered inducement to abandon an ongoing campaign against chief justice Abdul Hamid Dogar.
- By Shahid Hussain, Correspondent
- Published: 23:27 December 17, 2008
Islamabad: The chief of Pakistan's main opposition party alleged on Wednesday he had been offered inducement to abandon an ongoing campaign against chief justice Abdul Hamid Dogar.
Former premier Nawaz Sharif told reporters he was assured of a favourable Supreme Court verdict in a pending legal challenge to his electoral eligibility along with his younger brother and Punjab chief minister Shahbaz if he stopped demanding Dogar's resignation.
The former prime minister and his party have been demanding that the chief justice step down over a scandal related to awarding of extra marks in an examination to his daughter Farha by the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education.
"A message was conveyed to me that the top court will give a favourable decision in the eligibility case in return for silence over the extra marks issue and abandoning the demand for the resignation of the chief justice," he said.
Sharif did not divulge who had offered the bargain but said he had spurned the offer.
He lauded the role of chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly PML-N legislator Abid Sher Ali and the panel's inquiry into the marks scandal.
The Supreme Court earlier this month passed an order for the parliamentary committee to stop further proceedings in the inquiry until it decided in a case related to the issue.
A meeting of the committee planned for December 15 was not held but the panel chairman has insisted the proceeding would be resumed shortly. Ali insists no court could interference with the work of sovereign parliament and its committees.
Sharif vowed to continue his efforts for the restoration of the judiciary to the position before November 3, 2007 when former president Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule and sacked scores of judges.
Democracy charter
The PML-N leader demanded of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party leadership to fulfil their commitment to remove the changes inserted into the constitution by Musharraf through the 17th Amendment to remain in power.
"I like to remind President Asif Ali Zardari of his pledge to do away with this Amendment."
He said the PML-N would move a Bill in parliament after consultations with other parties to repeal the 17th Amendment, which gave the president sweeping powers including the authority to dissolve the elected assembly and the government.
Sharif said other than the PPP, all other parties were committed to scrapping Musharraf's constitutional distortions.
He did not say when the Bill was likely to be tabled in the parliament but warned the country would return to the situation before the February general election if the 17th Amendment was not struck down.
The PML-N leader demanded that the affairs of the country be run in accordance with the Charter of Democracy that he and the slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto had signed in London in 2007.
Referring to the PPP government's move to appoint a number of new judges to superior courts, Sharif said the procedure laid down in the charter for appointment of judges should be followed.
Blame game: Proof from Delhi sought
Responding to a question about Pakistan-India tension following last month's Mumbai terror attacks, the PML-N chief said the Indian government should have provided evidence to Islamabad for investigation instead of going to the UN Security Council sanctions panel.
The proper course would be of cooperation between Pakistan and India in the investigation into the Mumbai happenings as blame game would lead nowhere, he said. "The people and political parties of Pakistan want friendly relations with India."
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