Islamabad, Nov 23: Claiming that he has tried to change of the "culture of victimisation in politics" during his one year in office, Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali said exiled premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were free to return to the country but would have to face the court cases pending against them.

"We have tried to change the culture in politics. I had always believed that the old culture had to change, the culture of victimization, harassment, self-aggrandisement", he said in an interview to local daily 'Dawn'.
"The cases against Benazir (Bhutto) and Nawaz Sharif were not instituted by us. Please let us be very clear on these issues. I don't stop them from coming. They can come by all means. But whatever the courts and the problems they have to face, they have to face them," he said.
Jamali, however, remained non-committal about the release of Bhutto's husband Asif Aali Zaradi who has completed nearly seven years in jail.
About the arrest of Sharif loyalist and president of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, (ARD), Javed Hashmi for releasing an anonymous letter purportedly written by army personnel demanding inquiry into the Karigl debacle, Jamali said, "Hashmi transgressed the law. He had to be arrested."
Asked why the same rules were not applied to Army generals, he said violations by army personnel were punished under the military rules and added the constitution prohibits anyone from criticising the army and judiciary.
Bureau Report