Pakistan Today

Politicians bemoan army mediation in political issue

 

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision to ask Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to mediate a solution for breaking the deadlock with the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has drawn criticism from political circles, with some leaders lashing out at both the PML-N and PTI for agreeing on mediation by the army chief.

Pakistan People’s Party senior leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim told a private news channel that it was a shameful day for democracy when an elected prime minister, who had been assured support by all parliamentary parties, decided to seek help from the army in a bid to save his government.

“It is regretful that the government has failed to defuse a political crisis even with the support of opposition parties. The PPP feels democracy has been disgraced with this move and we will consider our future course of action in the days to come,” he said.

PTI President Javed Hashmi was so dejected by the army chief’s intervention that he left the party’s sit-in venue.

“I’m ashamed that politicians failed to resolve their issues and sought the army’s help to break the deadlock. I don’t blame Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan or Dr Tahirul Qadri for accepting the army chief’s offer for mediation because intelligence agencies usually achieve their objectives,” he told a private news channel.

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq said that it was failure of the politicians to solve political crisis through establishment.

“The government would have got 100 per cent marks if it had solved the political impasse on its own. But the game is not over yet, let’s see what happens next,” he said.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement Chairman Altaf Hussain was the only political leader who hailed the intervention by the army chief, saying the prime minister had made a prudent decision.

“Army chef Gen Sharif has made his place in the hearts of all Pakistanis by agreeing to mediate between the government and the protesting parties,” he told a news channel on telephone from London.

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