On the offensive: Sharif asks why dictators not held accountable

Deposed PM laments no premier allowed to complete five-year term in 70 years

ISLAMABAD: While acknowledging that a clash of institutions would lead the country to nowhere, deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday took a veiled shot at the judiciary as he asked if a court of law could also hold a dictator accountable.

“Who will hold those accountable who disintegrated our country?  I am yet to see a court of law that could hold a dictator accountable. Is there any?” Sharif asked while talking to a select group of journalists and politicians at the Punjab House.

Sharif was disqualified on July 28 by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court for hiding assets in his nomination papers for 2013 polls. The court had also asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file references against him and his family members in a number of cases.

After a brief silence that lasted for around a week, the deposed PM started issuing hard-hitting statements showing his dissatisfaction with the verdict.

On Saturday, Sharif said he was not ‘short of words’ but would speak his mind at some ‘appropriate’ time while on Sunday he called himself victim of a witch-hunt and vowed to expose the ‘conspiracy’ against him and the country.

Continuing this discourse on Monday, he lamented that not a single premier in Pakistan’s checkered history has been allowed to complete his term.

“The clash of institutions will lead the country to nowhere. I believe in institutional independence and constitutional supremacy. This is the reason I appeared before JIT [Joint Investigation Team] despite that I was advised not to.



“I countered the perception of shying away from accountability. But who would hold those accountable who disintegrated our country?  I am yet to see a court of law that could hold a dictator accountable. Is there any?” Sharif asked.

The statement came soon after Nawaz chaired a party huddle and decided to ignore security alerts with regard to his August 9 plan to lead his party’s caravan from the federal capital to Lahore in what is seen as a desperate bid to exhibit public support for the deposed premier.

Sharif plans to travel from Islamabad to Lahore via GT Road. Security agencies have, however, conveyed to the PML-N leadership about serious security threats and advised Sharif to travel via motorway which is considered safer due to restricted entries and exits.

However, he is said to have ignored the security agencies’ recommendation and decided to go via GT Road anticipating that the public would show up in big number.

“This programme is meant to garner public support and show our strength. If we fail to achieve the objective, we shall be doomed,” said a PML-N leader.

Some reports quoted Nawaz Sharif as having said that the “drama should end soon” and that a leader elected by “millions of people” was sent packing by “just five judges.”

Insiders in the ruling party said Nawaz’s hard-hitting statements were part of the PML-N’s strategy to ‘provoke’ its supporters to join Wednesday’s programme.

“Such antics are necessary to create hype and aggression before any high-profile event, especially when stakes are high. Every statement needs not to be taken in the literal sense,” one of the PML-N leaders assigned to prepare for the Wednesday’s event said on the condition of anonymity.



Lobbying for cabinet positions

Presently, the PML-N leaders who have been left out in the new cabinet but were part of the previous one, are engaged in intense lobbying to grab lucrative portfolios.

In his 43-member cabinet – which was sworn in on Friday – Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi does not have any adviser or special assistant. To fill out this gap, names of former PM’s advisers and assistants – including that of Ameer Muqam, Musadik Malik, Barrister Zafarullah, Sartaj Aziz and Tariq Fatemi – are under consideration for induction in a similar capacity.

Reportedly, the new PM also wants to elevate Hafiz Usman, his personal staff member, in the cabinet. Constitutionally, the PM can induct 49 members in his cabinet.

Like Abbasi’s, Nawaz Sharif’s cabinet also had 43 members which included 20 federal ministers, nine state ministers, five advisers and nine special assistants. A cabinet is comprised of 11 per cent of Parliament’s total strength which is 446 seats.

Abbasi meets senior officials

PM Abbasi also held a number of meetings with top officials including Azad Jammu and Kashmir PM Raja Farooq Haider, Punjab Governor Rafique Rijwana, Gilgit Baltistan Chief Minister Hafeez ur Rehman, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sheikh Aftab Ahmad, State Minister for Information Technology Anusha Rehman and Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman.