LAHORE:
Had Nawaz Sharif-led government been allowed to rule for another six months back in 1999, the country would have gone bankrupt, the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) said on Wednesday as the party marked the day as ‘Youm-e-Nijat’.
When then army chief Pervez Musharraf, who is now president of the APML, toppled the PML-N government on October 12, 1999, he had led the country towards prosperity and stability, said his party’s spokesperson, while presiding over a party meeting at the Punjab Secretariat.
The APML spokesperson emphasised that Sharif’s so-called democratic government in 1999 was possibly the worst example of “civil-dictatorship” that stigmatised democratic values in the country.
Separately, Pervez Musharraf also criticised the former two-time prime minister. “Nawaz Sharif did not have any accomplishment other than the motorway,” Musharraf said in an interview with Kamran Shahid in Express News programme “Front Line.”
Speaking about the state of economy at that time, Musharraf said that the country was at the verge of being declared bankrupt as there were only $400m in the national exchequer.
“Should I be punished for moving the country on the path to progress and raising Pakistan’s status in the comity of nations,” he asked. “Nawaz Sharif should be punished instead because he violated the constitution,” he added. “In the constitution, the tenure of the army chief is three years but he tried to remove me before that,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2011.
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Shame on musharraf, he has served for american only
I remember the time when we had less than $400 MM in foreign exchange reserves and things were not so bad. It is not only about FX reserves.
One of the best charaacters of Musharraf I like in him is that he speaks truth what come may.
Honesty + Vision + Courage + Patriotism = Pervez Musharraf
For those who are against Musharraf, you ppl deserve ppl like NS and AZ as PM. Khuda ki Maar hae.
@Realist.: A move declared legal by a Supreme Court bench, one of the members being the present CJ. The national assembly then further ratified the take over.
Indeed constitution allows sacking of COAS by PM but due process has to be followed. And due process does not mean shutting down of an airport in a major city.
I Feel Ditto ... Shakeel Sb ...
Mash' Allah, All the Sane & Educated Pakistanis are in favor of Musharraf.
@Pakistani First: We need another Youm-e-Nijat. COME & CONQUER YOUR OWN COUNTRY....!!!!
Musharraf the only best thing that happened to Pakistan after Jinnah and Bhutto. Which constitution are you guys talking about ? We want Pakistan not the constitution. At that time and even now Pakistan is important. To hell with the constitution that gives all the liberties to these corrupt leaders.
Musharraf Still Rocks...
So True. Musharraf rocks.. :)
@zalim singh: Theses figures have had confirmation from World Bank, Asian Development Bank, IMF etc
most of the economic figures of musharraf period are hyped up. Reality will wake up pakistan some day.
How dare this dictator be allowed to rewrite history. We all know that Pakistan went through a tough patch after it was forced to show nuclear deterrence in the face of Indian intimidation. The world slapped sanctions on Pakistan but still there was growth. After Musharraf took over illegaly in a coup and put back the democratic process in Pakistan, he was shunned all over the world. I remember reading about doors being shut to Musharraf after his coup. The events of 9/11 changed the world's view- and they needed Pakistan. Imagine how much more Pakistan would have got if we had a democratic government in place instead of looking like a Tin Pot dictatorship. I am very disappointed to hear a dictator try to rewrite his own history so blatently and incorrectly.
Musharraf is far better than all available "Democrats" I can bet.
We need to educate our nation before going for the Democracy. General Pervez Musharraf tenure was the best among rest. We need him again.
Full name is Youm-e-Nijat of Pakistanis from Pakistan using US drones.
This reminds me of famous Urdu saying "ulta chorr kotwal ko daantey". July 5 and Oct 12 are couple of the blackest days of our history. It will take decades to get rid of the ills of the eras that started on these dates.
We need another Youm-e-Nijat.
Does the chief executive of Pakistan not have the right to replace any government employee at will? And Musharraf would do well to remember that he was a government employee.
The problem with Pakistani Army officers is that they consider themselves above the law and don't think they are accountable to the Executive or the awaam.
The biggest blunder that Mian-sahab committed was that he challenged the Army and extended a hand of friendship towards India. In Pakistan, those are cardinal sins.
Guess that is why this guy has hired a lobbyist in USA for $25000 per month to justify his existence as a human being.
Things deteriorated due to the atomic b;asts in 1998 which the whole country is proud of. That led to economic sanctions on Pakistan (India too) and was directly responsible for the foreign exchange situation.
The bad situation continue even under Musharraf until 9/11 happened and all the sanctions were lifted because Musharraf became part of War on Terror.
Is this a BLOODY JOKE ? How proud these guys are over an unconstitutional move By an Army chief ? Who didn't even pay heed to the OATH he took while joining Army! What a SHAME!! Constitution Allows a Prime Minister to Fire an Army chief from his Job without telling any reason + Musharraf is talking about the constitution THE IRONY!!