Marathon meeting of top leaders inevitable: Nawaz
Criticises govt response to the floods; blames MQM for Karachi violence.
HYDERABAD:
The eponymous chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said that the nation’s political situation has made a marathon meeting of the senior-most leaders of all political parties almost inevitable.
Speaking in Tando Allahyar at the end of a two-day visit to Sindh, Nawaz spent much of his speech criticising the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the government for a variety of things, including the violence in Karachi and an inadequate response to the floods in Sindh.
Much of his speech was spent criticising MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s marathon Skype video address on Friday. He objected to Hussain’s characterisation of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s ideology. “Those who have objections to that ideology should reveal their own agendas and ideologies,” he said.
Somewhat oddly, the PML-N chief also criticised the MQM for calling Pervez Musharraf a coward after he had left office. “The MQM should have mustered courage to oppose him to his face when Musharraf was plunging the country in a perpetual war against terrorism. Hitting a man’s grave with shoes is wrong.”
The PML-N chief has been openly critical of the Musharraf administration in the past and is said to bear personal animosity towards the former president, who overthrew Sharif in a military coup in October 1999.
He referred to the MQM, without naming it, when he said that Karachi had been a much more peaceful place before the party was created. “The whole nation is anxious and disappointed over the dismal state in which it has thrust Karachi.”
The leader of the country’s largest opposition party said that while he was a proponent of dialogue, he believed that some political actors deserved to be punished for actions that have harmed the country. Nawaz did not name any party when he said this, nor did he clarify what he meant by ‘punishment’.
Campaigning in Sindh
Using his visit to rally support for his party, the PML-N chief criticised the government for what he said was an inadequate response to the floods in Sindh and claimed that his party had managed the flooding situation in Punjab much better last year.
“During the 2010 floods in Punjab, I had asked [Chief Minister] Shahbaz Sharif to shift his headquarters to South Punjab and to remain there unless the situation improves,” he said. “The Sindh and federal governments should demonstrate the same spirit.”
Addressing a crowd of people from the sunroof of his jeep, Sharif said that the government’s grant of Rs25,000 in compensation for every flood-affected family was not enough. “The affected farmers should be given Rs100,000,” he said.
Nawaz also gave away Rs2,000 in cash to some families affected by the flood on Chambarh Road in Tando Allahyar.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 12th, 2011.
The eponymous chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said that the nation’s political situation has made a marathon meeting of the senior-most leaders of all political parties almost inevitable.
Speaking in Tando Allahyar at the end of a two-day visit to Sindh, Nawaz spent much of his speech criticising the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the government for a variety of things, including the violence in Karachi and an inadequate response to the floods in Sindh.
Much of his speech was spent criticising MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s marathon Skype video address on Friday. He objected to Hussain’s characterisation of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s ideology. “Those who have objections to that ideology should reveal their own agendas and ideologies,” he said.
Somewhat oddly, the PML-N chief also criticised the MQM for calling Pervez Musharraf a coward after he had left office. “The MQM should have mustered courage to oppose him to his face when Musharraf was plunging the country in a perpetual war against terrorism. Hitting a man’s grave with shoes is wrong.”
The PML-N chief has been openly critical of the Musharraf administration in the past and is said to bear personal animosity towards the former president, who overthrew Sharif in a military coup in October 1999.
He referred to the MQM, without naming it, when he said that Karachi had been a much more peaceful place before the party was created. “The whole nation is anxious and disappointed over the dismal state in which it has thrust Karachi.”
The leader of the country’s largest opposition party said that while he was a proponent of dialogue, he believed that some political actors deserved to be punished for actions that have harmed the country. Nawaz did not name any party when he said this, nor did he clarify what he meant by ‘punishment’.
Campaigning in Sindh
Using his visit to rally support for his party, the PML-N chief criticised the government for what he said was an inadequate response to the floods in Sindh and claimed that his party had managed the flooding situation in Punjab much better last year.
“During the 2010 floods in Punjab, I had asked [Chief Minister] Shahbaz Sharif to shift his headquarters to South Punjab and to remain there unless the situation improves,” he said. “The Sindh and federal governments should demonstrate the same spirit.”
Addressing a crowd of people from the sunroof of his jeep, Sharif said that the government’s grant of Rs25,000 in compensation for every flood-affected family was not enough. “The affected farmers should be given Rs100,000,” he said.
Nawaz also gave away Rs2,000 in cash to some families affected by the flood on Chambarh Road in Tando Allahyar.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 12th, 2011.