Sharif vows to return to Pakistan to battle Musharraf in elections
BRITAIN: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has vowed to
return home soon to help his party oust embattled President Pervez
Musharraf after the Supreme Court ended his exile.
Speaking to The Associated Press in his London office on Thursday,
the man who once dominated Pakistani politics confirmed he planned to
run for a third term as prime minister.
“If the people of Pakistan elect me to serve the country, I’ll be
honored to do that,” Sharif said.
Smiling in a navy suit - and with a full head of dark hair - Sharif
appeared more vigorous than when he was forced from his homeland in 2000
into exile in Saudi Arabia and London - looking frail, gray and nearly
bald.
He said he would return to Pakistan soon, but gave no specific date.
A committee from his party, the Pakistan Muslim League, will meet in
London in the next few days to decide on plans, he added.
At a London news conference broadcast live on Pakistani private
television channels, Sharif hailed the court ruling as “a victory for
democracy and a defeat for dictatorship.”
Speaking later to the AP, Sharif said he had a cordial relationship
with the U.S. while he was in office, but he warned that Washington must
reconsider its relationship with Pakistan and not give its support just
to Musharraf if it wants to quell religious militancy.
“In any democracy you can find such menaces, but if a democracy
fights terrorism, ultimately it will win the battle,” he said. “But if
one individual is fighting the battle (he) cannot win.”
Sharif said Musharraf had no choice but to uphold the court’s ruling
allowing him to return home, but he warned that the leader had routinely
disregarded the independence of Pakistan’s parliament and judiciary.
“Overall, he’s reduced the parliament to a rubber stamp,” Sharif
said. “The sword of the (National) security council is hanging over the
head of the parliament.”
Musharraf’s eight years in office have been “a symbol of tyranny, a
symbol of oppression,” Sharif said.
“He doesn’t show respect for the courts, or for the rule of law. He
doesn’t respect the parliament, doesn’t respect the mandate of the
people and doesn’t care about the elected assembly,” Sharif said.
London, Friday, AP |
