Musharraf’s exit: Nisar accuses PPP of double standards

The former presid­ent went abroad at least four times during the last PPP rule, claims interi­or minist­er

ISLAMABAD:

As the Pakistan Peoples Party upped the ante in its street protest against the government over Pervez Musharraf’s travel abroad, the country’s security czar hit back on Sunday accusing the PPP of ‘hypocrisy and double standards’.

“It is amusing to note that those who had given guard of honour to Musharraf are now staging a political drama to revive their declining political fortunes,” Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said in a statement. “While in power, the PPP honoured its NRO-inspired friendship with Musharraf,” he added.





The NRO, or National Reconciliation Ordinance, was a controversial law issued by Musharraf in October 2007, presumably to allow then PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto to return to Pakistan without any legal consequences due to pending politically motivated corruption cases.

A team investigating the assassination of Benazir Bhutto had recommended in 2009 that Musharraf should also be included in the probe, but the then rulers did not dare to take action against him, Nisar said. “Musharraf was allowed to travel abroad four times during the PPP tenure.”

In 2011, Musharraf was nominated in an FIR, but the PPP government neither put his name on the Exit Control List (ECL) nor did it take any action against him. The PPP ignored the Benazir assassination case and the 2007 proclamation of emergency by Musharraf, he said.



“The PPP government wanted to continue with [Chief] Justice [Abdul Hameed] Dogar and the PCO court,” he said. “In reality, Asif Ali Zardari tried, though unsuccessfully, to convince Nawaz Sharif to ignore the mistakes of Musharraf.”

Musharraf had declared state of emergency in November 2007; issued a provisional constitutional order (PCO); detained judges of the top judiciary; and brought in Dogar to replace Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as the top judge of Pakistan.

After the 2008 general elections, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was the only party that opposed the idea of giving indemnity to Musharraf’s actions while Asif Zardari had convinced all other parties. The PML-N had also pressed for impeaching Musharraf for his unconstitutional actions, and as a result he had to resign.

“The PPP had no plans to show him the door,” he added. “It’s surprising that PPP leaders have forgotten all wrongdoings of their party while it was in power.”

The interior minister said that by agitating against Musharraf’s travel abroad the PPP is trying to bolster its political decline. The memory of our nation is strong enough to recall everything the PPP had done during its rule, he added. “Such negativity on the part of the PPP would further damage its political reputation.”

Nisar defended the government decision of striking Musharraf’s name off the ECL, reiterating that the move was in compliance with the Supreme Court order.



When the three-judge special court trying Musharraf for treason had allowed him to travel abroad, the PML-N government opposed it. Again, when the Sindh High Court ordered lifting travel restrictions on the former military ruler, the federal government challenged the judgment in the Supreme Court.

The saga continued for two years, he said. “And when the Supreme Court, the last court for appeal, ruled on the matter, Musharraf’s name was removed from the ECL.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st,  2016.