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| PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif In A Press Conference |
LONDON: It is rumour season again, and warnings of conspiracy increasingly lace the rhetoric of all suspicious pro-democracy forces, including the ruling party and the principal opposition.
Though the opposition, in the form of a press conference by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif on Saturday, unfailingly tally out at the policies of the government, the former prime minister did talk about ‘mysterious miscreants’ who appear ‘out of the blue’ to derail and wrap up the democratic process ‘in an instant’.
Speaking in London to media men, the opposition chief was recalling his own experience, with his government sacked in 1999 through a military coup – but his words resonate fittingly amidst the current political uncertainty, and had an unmistakable sense of foreboding.
Rumours of conspiracy have increased over the last few days, with the fear of another prime minister being sacked openly voiced by many political quarters. It is unclear whether Premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s fate will be similar to that of his predecessor, Yousaf Raza Gilani – but the Supreme Court has passed him till July 25 to comply with orders and compose a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen a dormant graft case there against incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari.
If Premier Ashraf is also disqualified, many predict political and constitutional uncertainty could pave the way for some sort of quasi-democratic setup taking root – a setup under which the chief governmental parties would be sidelined on the pretense of stability.
The PML-N chief said his government was a victim of such anti-democratic forces, and said that if democracy had been allowed to continue for 22 years (since the start of the last period of democracy in the late 1980s), it would have created it up for the whatever problems Pakistan had developed over the 40 years since its creation at that time.
Commenting on the recently-passed Contempt of Court Act, Nawaz said the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was legislating in a haste to protect a ‘few people’. The PPP, he said, should not chalk out a law in haste and should, instead, sit across the table with opposition parties on such matters.
He alleged that by taking this path the politics is proving that it is out to destroy the courts, and blamed the government’s allies for supporting and reinforcing the government’s ‘flawed’ policies.
He also said that the cases against him and his family recently reopened by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) were baseless.
Meanwhile, the premier on Saturday urged all stakeholders to join hands to guard against any sort of ‘adventurism’, recalling that elected governments had always been targeted throughout the country’s history.
Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf appealed to the opposition to come forward to ensure free, fairly and straight polls – and, for this purpose, shun any differences they may have at the moment.
The prime minister spoke continued to press for democratic forces to keep their guard up at a time that Pakistan could see an uninterrupted transition from one popularly-elected to a different for the 1st time in its over 60-year history.
“We do not want any hanky-panky in the polling process that’s why we appointed a consensus Chief Election Commissioner.”
The premier urged that, instead of struggling to destabilise the government, a collective effort is wanted to steer the land out of any crisis, asking the opposition to ‘join hands’ with the government at this critical time.
