No political role for army, says Nawaz

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said whether the government remained intact or not, any role of the army in politics was unacceptable and the government itself should come forward to save democracy and announce general elections. He strongly criticised the establishment for asking the people to join one or the other party and appealed to the judiciary to play its role in saving democracy. He, however, did not mention the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief nor replied clearly to repeated questions about demands for the ISI chief’s resignation. He said after every eight or 10 years, dictatorship disrupted the country and the country went into reverse instead of going forward.
“Pakistan would have been a developed country if dictatorship had not disturbed the development of the country. South Asia is behind East Asia and in South Asia, Pakistan is a less developed country as compared to others countries,” he said.
The PML-N chief then said if early elections were not held, the situation would deteriorate further. He said the PML-N had led the country to development by first signing an agreement with former Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Lahore, then signing a JS Thunder war aircraft pact with China. If that pace had continued, Pakistan would have reached the peak of development, he added.
Replying to a question regarding his meeting with Sardar Attaullah Mengal, he said there was still a ray of hope and matters could be resolved. He said the issue of Balochistan could be handled by political leaders and guns were not the solution. “Dictators are unable to resolve issue. People of Balochistan are genuinely crying because they are suffering atrocities. They are passing through a difficult time. But I am seeing a ray of hope,” he said.
Replying to a question about whether he would meet President Zardari after his return to the country, the PML-N chief said he would pray for his good health with sincerity.
When asked that if the government discussed bringing the ISI under civilian control, would his party support and have such a law passed by parliament, he said: “When I spoke after the Abbottabad incident about responsibility, the president issued a statement from Naudero that I am trying to defame the army and denying its sacrifices. Was this a wise statement? Why did he adopt double standards? What was his agenda?”
ARMY BUDGET: Nawaz also said he was not seeing any signs that Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani would harm democracy. He said his party demanded bringing the army’s budget in front of parliament and suggesting that a committee be formed to approve the budget of secret agencies and bring it to parliament for final approval.
Replying to a question about talks with other parties, Nawaz said all parties of Sindh were part of the government and he would talk to them. He said he would also talk to nationalists because there was no harm in that.
He also said there was no choice but to bring the memogate scandal to the Supreme Court because parliament had failed to implement many of its decisions. He said it was essential that the faces behind the memo controversy were unveiled. Talking to media persons in Karachi, the former prime minister said it was the best time to hold election and resign from the parliament.