Islamabad: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday blamed President Asif Ali Zardari for the sorry state of affairs in Pakistan and advised him to give up the path of conflict with the judiciary and respect its decisions.
In an address to workers of his Pakistan Muslim Leage-N (PML-N) in London, where he is currently on a visit, Sharif accused the president of putting institutions at stake for the sole purpose of protecting personal interests.
He said the Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman had not accepted from heart the restoration of independent judiciary in the country, citing the corruption cases pending against him inside and outside Pakistan as the underlying reason.
“The stigma of corruption will always haunt you and the best course for you is to apologize to the nation, return its stolen wealth and respect judicial verdicts,” he told the president in his address shown here live by private television channels.
Blistering attack
The blistering attack by the top leader of the main opposition party, which holds power in the country’s most populous province of Punjab, followed Friday’s order by the Supreme Court restraining the ruling setup from making any unconstitutional move to remove judges.
A 17-judge full court issued the order after reports on some television channels Thursday that the government was considering withdrawing the executive order by which judges sacked by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf were restored in March last year.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani had immediately denied the reports as baseless but the court ordered that a written statement about the government’s position signed by him be presented to the bench when it reassembles Monday. The court also asked government to investigate the rumours and submit a report.
Sharif said the court’s demand was justified and pointed out that the prime minister had himself given rise to apprehensions when earlier this year he stated in the National Assembly that the notification about judges’ reinstatement had yet to be ratified by the parlaiment.
He recalled the events after the February 2008 general election and said Zardari went back on his solemn pledges soiling relations between the two major parties.
Programme for national salvation.
To steer the country out of the crises, the PML-N leader proposed that all political forces and other segments of the society sit together and collectively evolve a 25-year programme for national salvation.
He said the proposed comprehensive programme would be a “charter of Pakistan” and all would pledge to uphold and implement its consensus-based long-term agenda designed to rid the country of crushing inflation, rampant unemployment, poverty and hunger, the menace of terrorism, corruption and other ills.
Replying to questions from the audience, Sharif said he did not consider it worthwhile to respond to allegations made against him by former dictator Pervez Musharraf, living in self-exile in London.
He however said that if the ex-president had been held to account for his misdeeds the country would have been saved from tribulations it was facing now.
“I am hundred per cent sure peace would have been established in restive Balochistan province if the murderers of Nawab Akbar Bugti (Baloch nationalist leader killed in a military operation in 2006 during Musharraf regime) were put in the dock,” Sharif said.
