Nawaz Sharif now says that the decision of the PCO judges was shameful for allowing an Army General to contest the presidential election in uniform. But was it not the court under the EX CJ Iftikhar Chaudhury that allowed President Musharraf to seek re-election uniform in October 2007? Is Nawaz Sharif now condemning those judges he has been supporting for the last one year?
Khaleej Times Online - Present Govt Extension of Musharraf Regime: Sharif=
Present Govt Extension of Musharraf Regime: Sharif
LAHORE - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif has said that the present government was an extension of the Musharraf regime and that there was no major change after February 18 elections.
Addressing a Press conference at his Raiwind residence, he said the PML-N would not tolerate any hindrance in the way of sovereignty and independence of Parliament. He demanded that the National Assembly Speaker and the government take notice of what he said the Supreme Court obstructing the functioning of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Education. Sharif said nobody has the right to interfere in the affairs of Parliament. He said the PML-N was going fully cooperating with the government but the situation has become more complicated as the resolution passed by Parliament was not being implemented and excessive power was being used in the tribal areas. He said peace-loving forces in the tribal areas were getting more and more annoyed because of such steps. He said the government should not employ delaying tactics in resolving problems of the provinces, respecting the mandate of other political forces and settling the complicated issues. He said he would continue reminding the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government to abolish the 17th Amendment in accordance with the Charter of Democracy. If there had been supremacy of parliament, he said, the people like Justice Irshad Hasan Khan would have been brought to book for allowing a dictator to play with the constitution.
**He said the decision of the PCO judges was shameful for allowing an Army General to contest the presidential election in uniform. **He claimed that not a single dictator in Pakistan had ever succeeded in any war, be it in the battleground or on the table, and rather turned victories into humiliating defeats. He criticised the Chief Justice of Pakistan for manipulating 21 additional marks for his daughter by using pressure tactics. He said it was a personal issue of Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar that had nothing to do with the affairs of the apex court and as such it could be debated in Parliament. He said the CJ’s daughter was given 21 extra marks while there were hundreds of thousands girls from humble backgrounds who could not get admissions to different colleges for want of a single mark. He said the matter was the talk of the town and being discussed in every nook and corner of the country. Then why it could not be debated in Parliament, he questioned. He said there were countries where judges were summoned to Parliament but in Pakistan the situation was different. Sharif said it was quite wrong that the chief justice had assigned his personal case to another Supreme Court judge who had prevented parliament from probing the matter of additional marks. He called upon Parliament Speaker Fahmida Mirza to take notice of it and overrule the decision. Besides taking action against the CJ, he said the government should also take action the officials of educational boards involved in the illegality at the expense of hundreds of other students.
Nawaz said the country was passing through difficult times and political leaders should demonstrate sagacity in handling the situation. He said the situation was not created during the past eight or nine months but during the eight-year-long ‘Martial Law’ imposed by Pervez Musharraf. He said the whole nation, including politicians, was facing the brunt of this ‘Martial Law’. He reiterated the PML-N demand that the PPP-led government at the centre should disclose, if there is any, secret agreement signed by former president Pervez Musharraf on the tribal areas. He said the government should make clear its stand on these issues as they were causing doubts. He criticised the government for its failure to speedily resolve the problems after the February elections.
