Musharraf’s rule caused current problems: PML-N

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The current bad situation is the result of President General Pervez Musharraf’s five-years of rule, said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Information Secretary Muhammad Siddiqul Farooq on Saturday.

In a press statement, he demanded that the president relinquish his Army post and quit the presidency. He was reacting to the general’s recent interview with the Washington Post, in which he said the people want him to stay in uniform.

He said that the general has wrongly claimed that an overwhelming majority of the people wanted him to stay in uniform. “In fact, the people of Pakistan are not prepared to accept him with or without his uniform and he, therefore, should quit both offices immediately,” he said.

The PML-N leader said the water dispute and growing terrorism proved the necessity of having a strong political system and a powerful parliament to ensure the country’s survival, the promotion of national solidarity and the resolution of controversial issues.

He said the reigns of late military dictators Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan bear evidence to the fact that unresolved political issues led to differences among the federating units, to the extent that the country was dismembered.

He said eminent jurists in the country and patriotic political parties had already rejected any legal, constitutional and moral justifications for President Musharraf’s holding both the offices of Army chief and president.

The PML-N leader recalled that elected political governments were falsely accused of incompetence and forcibly removed only after two to three years in power. “The Musharraf government continued to play havoc with the nation for five years, and yet he wants more time,” he commented.

He stated that the general had pledged to remove his uniform in a televised speech. “Changed conditions can never justify the breaking of a promise,” he concluded.

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