Asking the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) not to link the Swiss cases with the grave of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif on Monday said President Asif Ali Zardari’s recent statement of accepting only the parliamentary committee’s decision in the memo case was indicative of his lack of confidence in the judiciary.
“The people responsible for the alleged memo that sought US help to prevent a possible military coup in Pakistan should be exposed, as the matter involves the country’s sovereignty and national interests,” Nawaz said while talking to reporters at the Islamabad High Court after appearing before the judicial commission probing into the “memogate”. The PML-N chief said the government was not ready to move a “single inch” in the memo case and wanted to fail the judicial commission. He said while appearing before the judicial commission, he noticed that the government was coming up with all sorts of excuses to create hurdles in the probe. He said the PML-N had not blamed anyone, including the government, for the “memogate”, but those behind this conspiracy should be unmasked. Nawaz said, “I am just a complainant in the case. I appeared before the commission to show my respect for the judiciary … the parliamentary committee on national security has done nothing on the issue so far.” After submitting his written statement through his counsel Mustafa Ramday, the PML-N chief said, “It is a grave matter and someone has hatched a conspiracy. They should be exposed. The secret memo was a conspiracy against the country’s sovereignty, vital interests and vital assets,” he said. Asked about President Zardari’s remarks that he would accept the findings of the parliamentary committee only, Nawaz said this reflected the government’s attitude towards the judiciary.
“This clearly means that the president has no intention to accept the decision of the court and it also indicates that Mr Zardari knows in advance what decision the parliamentary committee would make,” Nawaz observed. “It shows the government’s defiance of the judiciary … it is an expression of no-confidence in the judiciary of Pakistan and the commission … that is why the government is facing problems,” he said. To a question regarding Swiss accounts and the implementation of the SC verdict in the NRO case, he said: “Why is the government reluctant to write to Swiss authorities? Linking the embezzlements with Benazir’s grave is not fair. They must answer whose 60 million rupees have been kept in Switzerland’s banks. This is the nation’s wealth which it wants back.” The former prime minister further said it was “a matter of happiness” that former president Pervez Musharraf had announced his plan to return to Pakistan from self-exile.
