Islamabad: Former premier Nawaz Sharif on Saturday
said Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani should take
action to immediately end any meddling in politics by military
institutions and intelligence agencies.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function
near Islamabad, Sharif, who heads the main opposition PML-N
party, said former military rulers like Pervez Musharraf too
should be held accountable for their actions.
Responding to questions about a secret memorandum in
which Pakistan’s government had purportedly sought US
assistance to prevent a military takeover and the spy agency
Inter-Service Intelligence`s alleged interference in
politics, Sharif said: "It is General Kayani’s responsibility
to stop military agencies that are getting involved in
politics.
"Their role should be immediately ended or else he will
be blamed along with others. I don’t think our military’s
dignity should be affected?, said Sharif, whose second term as
premier was ended by a military coup in 1999.
"I don’t think our military should be blamed for meddling
in politics. I expect this trend to be stopped under all
circumstances. We have evidence that one political party is
being fully supported by military agencies," Sharif said,
without naming the party he was referring to.
Sharif said former President Musharraf should face trial
for his actions.
"Why is it that he cannot be tried because he was a
general when (former Prime Minister) Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was
also tried," he said.
The PML-N has always said that Pakistan`s honour,
security and sovereignty should not be compromised but at the
same time, there should be probes into incidents like the US
raid that killed Osama bin Laden and the murder of journalist
Syed Saleem Shahzad, he said.
Pakistan-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz`s claim that
he sent a memorandum through an intermediary to former US
military chief Admiral Mike Mullen in May has shaken up the
country`s political and diplomatic circles.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, named by
Ijaz as the official who asked him to draft the memo, has been
called back to Islamabad to explain his position.
Haqqani, who left Washington for Islamabad earlier today,
has said he played no role in drafting or delivering the memo.
Sharif said people should not be made to wait for the
reality behind the controversial memo.
"The people want to know the truth and the result of any
probe should be made public within a few days," he said.
The matter could be probed by a committee of
parliamentarians or retired judges, Sharif suggested.
"This issue will be settled one way or another. Such a
big issue cannot go unnoticed or without being decided," he
added.
If the government did not conduct an impartial inquiry,
the PML-N will take up the matter in the Supreme Court, Sharif
said.
He said problems like the interference of intelligence
agencies in politics could have been tackled if President Asif
Ali Zardari had implemented the Charter of Democracy signed by
the PML-N and Pakistan People’s Party in 2006.
PTI
