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Pakistan : Sharif exiled to Saudi Arabia |
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The former Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, has been freed from Attock jail, put on a plane and sent into exile in Saudi Arabia under a deal which he is said to have struck with Gen. Musharraf who toppled him last year and filed court cases against him on hijacking and terrorism charges which ultimately led to his life imprisonment and confiscation of property. He had earlier requested to go abroad for medical treatment. The Saudi Arabian Government has issued seven visas to Mr. Sharif and his family members to travel to the Kingdom. Although Mr. Sharif has been granted presidential pardon, his forfeited property will not be returned and he will continue to be disqualified from public office for the next 21 years. This means that he cannot come back into politics, although once he is abroad, there will not be much to stop him campaigning.
There is no immediate word what prompted the Musharraf regime to release him, but it is a known fact that international pressure, especially by the Commonwealth was building him and a friendly country like Saudi Arabia advised him to strike a deal by which Mr. Sharif leaves the country honourably which on the one hand will neutralise the international criticism against him and at the same time, render him to only having a nuisance value.
Political observers say it indeed is surprising that Mr. Sharif has been able to strike a deal as he was opposing the Musharraf regime till recently. And his Pakistan Muslim League also joined the multi-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, in which its arch rival, the ZPPP led by Ms Benazir Bhutto, is a major partner. The alliance has vowed to start a mass movement for the restoration of democracy.
Rift in PML
By the time Nawaz Sharif was striking a deal for his exile, his PML was undergoing a rift over the opposition to Mr Sharif allowing his wife to take control of the parity as well as his decision to join hands with the PPP to form a grand opposition alliance. Only last month, a group of party men opposed to his policies had stormed into the headquarters of the party in Lahore and made his loyalists manning the office to flee. Mr. Sharif finally expelled the four senior party leaders who raised a banner of revolt against the leadership. Early last week, the four leaders former Ministers, Mr.Shujaas Hussain and Muhammad Ejazul Haq, former Governor, Mian Muhammad Azhar, and president of party’s labour wing, Mr.Fazir Hussain Bukhari, were suspended for alleged acts of indiscipline and ugly incidents involving the e capture of the party headquarters in the national capital and subsequently in Lahore.
The rebels have been demanding for several months now replacement of Mr.Sharif as party leader on the plea that with so many cases against him, he cannot be expected to provide the right kind of leadership. Some of the rebels were reportedly in touch with the military government. When the PML decided last week to become part of the grand Democratic Alliance, which included the Pakistan People’s Party of another former Prime Minister, Ms.Benazir Bhutto, the rebels saw a chance to break ranks with the party.
Opposition alliance
Eighteen political parties have joined hands to form a grand alliance in Pakistan with the main objective of pressuring the military to return to the barracks and handover power to politicians. The most significant aspect of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) is that the three major political parties in the country the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) of Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of Ms Bhutto and the Mutahidda Quami Movement (MQM) are part of it. The alliance rhymes with Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD) dating back to the Zia-ul-Haq regime. However, the ARD certainly cannot compared with MRD at least at this juncture. The main reason for lack of enthusiasm among the public about the new alliance may be the ‘misrule’ of the past civilian Governments and the sullen image of politicians.
Nevertheless, the ARD could pose a potential threat to the Musharraf Government if it (ARD) decides to take to the streets against the military. The Army is aware of the implications of the ganging up of old rivals and with in hours after the birth of the alliance, a spokesman of the military was at pains to emphasise on the efforts to usher in “genuine democracy” in the country.
In fact, before the formation of the alliance, most of parties were part of grand Democratic Alliance (GDA). Part of the GDA were parties opposed to the Nawaz Sharif Government months before it was overthrown by the military. In really the ARD is a combination of parties that had come together against Mr.Sharif and the PML. Half-a-dozen smaller parties that were part of the GDA have refused to allow entry of PML, into the ARD and have decided to continue to be part of the GDA.
The alliance demanded that the military should immediately return to barracks and establish an interim national government which should ensure immediate holding of general elections in the country. the alliance bitterly criticized the policies of the military regime and alleged that the military regime and alleged that the military-led government is targeting politicians alone at the garb of accountability. The alliance also demanded reinvestigation of corruption cases against Benazir and Nawaz Sharif by an independent truth and reconciliation commission.
The President of Pakistan Democratic Front, Mr. Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, has been elected ARD president. With the PML chief Mr Nawaz Sharif, behind the b bars and the PPP chief, Ms.Benazir Bhutto, in London on a self-exile, the veteran leader was perhaps the best bet for the motley group of parties. The formation of the alliance was preceded by upheaval in both the FDA as well as in the PML. the rebels in PML have termed the alliance as ‘opportunistic’ and are likely to form their own group.
Local body elections schedule
Meanwhile, schedule for local bodies elections has been announced by the Musharraf regime. The election commission has called for nominations for the local bodies elections, the last date for which was December 5. First page of polling, scheduled for December 31, would cover 18 Districts spread our all the for provinces.
However, there is hardly any evidence of enthusiasm among the people. The polls are being held under a convoluted and confusing scheme. Members of political parties are barred from taking part in the elections but can participate in the process as ordinary citizens. The election is supposedly an attempt to usher in democracy from below. The process of elections at the grassroots level would continue till early August next year from the last week of this month. The military establishment has not been able to explain why it should take over eight months to complete the process. The Chief EXecutive, Gen.Pervez Musharraf, had repeatedly said the military would abide by the Supreme court directive to restore democracy by October 2002. He promised to hold elections at the provincial and national level after completing the process at the lowest level.
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