News
Monday, January 30, 2012
PML-N weighs options to give govt tough time* Mushahidullah says his party is guarantee to democratic system in country
By Tanveer Ahmed
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), believing itself to be the lynchpin of the present democratic system, is still contemplating on different options to give tough time to the government, party’s Information Secretary Mushahidullah Khan said on Sunday.
Talking to Daily Times, he said the options, which the opposition party was deliberating upon, were resignation from the assemblies, long march against the government and to move a no-confidence move against Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
The third option is not worthy of consideration at the moment owing to its low numerical strength in parliament, he said, adding that two other options are very much on the cards.
Mushahidullah spoke extensively on the overall political situation in the country as well as the future of his party in the face of rising tide of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in PML-N’s power base, Punjab.
When pointed out that the PML-N’s movement against the government appeared to have died down, Mushahidullah said that the options considered in the party’s Central Working Committee (CWC) still held grounds as PML-N leadership had been discussing with other opposition parties to evolve a common stance.
The PML-N leader also brushed aside a perception that the party was presently sailing in a state of confusion, saying the PML-N does not want to harm democracy.
“The PML-N is the guarantee of the present democratic setup as for the sake of democracy we didn’t pressurise the government to pack up, for which we had numerous occasions, like long march for the restoration of then deposed judges,” he said.
Mushahidullah also set aside the notion that the PML-N was isolated in the present political scenario as major political parties were in the fold of PPP government and said that closeness of the political parties with PPP is not meant for democracy but to have their own share in the power’s cake.
Frankly speaking, he said if these parties were with the PPP then what they have delivered to the masses, which have been suffering from bad governance, mismanagement and rampant corruption in every sphere.
Mushahidullah also played down the widely-talked threats from the PTI’s rising popularity, saying that establishment and the United States are fully backing the PTI and its chief Imran Khan.
He also didn’t feel any threat from the PPP-PML-Q alliance in the next general elections as according to him Q-League has holes in its pocket from which their workers and leaders are slipping down to join other parties.
Mushahidullah came up with his own version of history when pointed out that if the PML-N is accusing the PTI of having the backing of establishment when itself was created by a dictator and said that the PML-N was created in 1993, although it is a different matter that Nawaz Sharif entered the political arena when former military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq was in power.
If the PML-N is accused of having connections with dictators then what one would say about the PPP, which entered with all five military dictators, who had usurped power in the past, he said.
On the memo case and his party strategy over this issue, the PML-N leader believed that the party had the same stance it had at the time of filing of petition in the superior judiciary.
“We have not pointed finger at any one as the party just wants to bring the truth to the fore, as the matter poses serious questions over national security,” he said when asked whether his party is considering reviewing its policy over the memo case after Mansoor Ijaz’s refusal to visit Pakistan. About his party’s roadmap to run the country if voted to power, Mushahidullah said that it is obvious from the revolution, which the party had brought in various sectors of the economy when it was in power.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk