Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said that Pakistan stood isolated in the comity of nations because of the ill-conceived policies of the rulers.
Talking to Pakistani journalists from his residence in Jeddah, he said, “We will strive hard for the stability, development and prosperity of Pakistan.”
“It is being said that we have compromised on the issue of 20th Amendment. If we have compromised, then what about the movement we had launched for the reinstatement of judges. Was that also a compromise?” he said.
He said the 20th Amendment was vital for the future of the country and the continuity of democratic system. “We are trying to remove the government through democratic means, and demanding for new elections,” he said.
He called the resolution on Balochistan moved in the US Congress was a “wrong step”. “We however have to review why the situation has taken this turn. The need is there to address the real issue and convening an APC merely on this issue will be of no avail,” he stressed. “We have told the government in categorical terms that the Balochistan problem cannot be resolved unless the injustices done to the people of Balochistan are removed. We don’t have any desire to participate in an APC which is unproductive,” he added.
To a question he said, “It is our demand that the killers of Akbar Bugti be brought to justice and missing persons from Balochistan be recovered and their due rights be given. “If Akbar Bugti was rebelling against the country then why Pervez Musharraf did not provide evidence against him,” he asked.
About the possibility of a merger by Sindh National Front into the PML-N, he said that talks were underway with Mumtaz Bhutto but the matters had not yet been finalised with him. “I will meet Shah Zain Bugti on my return to the country so that a solid solution to the problem of Balochistan could be ascertained,” he said.
Regarding the upcoming elections, he hoped that they would take place in transparent manner. “We hope that our position will be strong. In the past it was said that we would get less seats but time proved that the erstwhile government could not suppress the public opinion despite enormous victimisation,” he said.