Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday exhorted Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to appear before the Supreme Court to answer the court’s contempt notice.
Nawaz arrived in Pir Jo Goth to meet Pir Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi, who was elected the eighth Pir Pagara of the Hur community. Rashidi is the eldest son of late Pir Syed Mardan Shah II who died in London last week. The PML-N chief pledged to continue cooperation with Pagara’s PML-Functional. Addressing a press conference with Pir Pagara, Nawaz accused the ruling clique of threatening democracy. “The democracy has no threat from anyone, other than the attitude of present rulers.” “Pakistan is passing through a critical phase. We should all join hands because no single party can steer it out of crises,” he said, ruling out the possibility of his faction’s dialogue with the PPP. He urged the government to abide by SC orders and write a letter to the Swiss authorities for details of President Asif Zardari’s bank accounts. “Why are they reluctant to contact the Swiss government? Zardari should prove that it’s his own money, and not of the nation,” he added. The SC on Monday issued a contempt notice to Gilani, ordering him to appear personally before the jury on January 19 for failing to pursue the NRO cases against the president and other officials. “Gilani should face the Supreme Court. The situation would have been different had he acted on my advice,” Nawaz said. He said the government’s allies were also involved in humiliating the county’s prestigious institutions.