Nawaz promises ‘follow through’

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif said he wants a change but only through the electoral process.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has said that he wants a change, but only through the electoral  process. “We will not become part of a conspiracy and will face the situation courageously,” he said while appearing in a private TV programme on Monday.

He said that his party is not talking of power politics. “We will follow through on the  talk of change and will not just sit idle after issuing statements,” he said.

He said that his party had not arranged the long march for personal interest but for the restoration of the judiciary. “If Prime Minister Gilani claims that it was he who reinstated the judges, then why did he do so on the day of the long march, and not before?”

He reminded the people who talk about return of former president Pervez Musharraf that he had brought martial law twice. “They should also remember that the man who won freedom for 90,000 (Pakistani) soldiers from Indian captivity was hanged while the one who was responsible for the defeat was buried while draped in the national flag,” he said. “The one who breaks the judiciary is presented a guard of honour.”

Sharif said that politicians gave this country projects like motorways. He said that a journalist from Islamabad has blamed that ISI tortured him. “It is injustice and we will not sit silent on this.”

He said that “we had expected that, after the 18th amendment, Premier Yousaf Raza Gilani will start making all decisions, but he does not. Even the Supreme Court had to say that its verdicts were not being implemented.

“If the government improves governance, the situation could improve, but I think it is too late now,” he said.

He disclosed that his party was contemplating working with those parties with which it has not had any partnership in the past. He said that the government owed it to the people to fulfill their desires.

Sharif said that if democracy is not defended, martial law can come. “It was martial law that turned the eastern part of the country into Bangladesh,” he pointed out. “These are bitter facts that cannot be forgotten.”

He said people’s patience was wearing thin. “I am not in favour of any change in which the present government is removed and power is given to our party,” he said. “We are candidates for power only through elections,” he declared. “We will oppose any conspiracy regardless of where it originates from.” He alleged that some elements were making deliberate efforts to worsen the situation, but “neither I, nor my party, will fall a prey to such conspiracies.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2010.