ISLAMABAD – Pointing his guns solely at President Asif Zardari, National Assembly Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Sunday that Zardari was bent on sacrificing the country, democracy, law, judiciary and even his own party’s government at altar of his desires.
Nisar told reporters at a press conference that the rulers did not like the independence of the judiciary at all. “The decisions of the superior courts are being ridiculed as the rulers just want to implement their desires,” he said.
Despite the passage of more than 36 hours, President Zardari’s letter for consultation on the reappointment of Justice (r) Deedar Hussain as the National Accountability Chairman (NAB) chairman had not reached him, he said.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s strike had proved Deedar’s political affiliation, he added. “Why is the presidency in such a hurry to nominate Deedar Hussain as the NAB chairman while the detailed verdict of the Supreme Court regarding the nullification of his appointment is yet to be issued?” he questioned.
He said that Zardari was trying to buy some time for his dying government and pleading with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement for its support. Nisar said that the law minister was in fact a minister to save Zardari from the law. “This man (Babar Awan) is the one who used to recite shameful poems against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in my own political procession in the past … Such men have now become the pawns of Zardari … I will not use the word ‘jiyala’ for such people,” he added.
He said that after former president Pervez Musharraf’s eight-year long disastrous rule, the country was now facing another “calamity” in the form of Zardari. He said the PPP created a ruckus in the Punjab Assembly on the auspices of President Zardari and it had ridiculed the whole parliamentary system. “Those PPP leaders who are now criticising the Punjab government were tight-lipped in the last three years when they were enjoying ministerial positions,” he said. Perturbed over the PPP-Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) courtship, which could prove a threat to his party’s government in Punjab, Nisar said that before shaking hands both parties’ leaders should publicly apologise to each other and the nation for their past allegations against one another.
