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Impression of Conflict With Every Army Chief Incorrect: Nawaz

Web Desk (August 17, 2017): Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has rejected the perception that he has had differences with all army chiefs, saying his government has also had cordial relations with certain military leaders.

Sharif said this in an interview with the BBC on Thursday — his first detailed interview with foreign news media after the Supreme Court disqualified him as prime minister on July 28 in the Panama Papers case.

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The July 28 disqualification was not the first time that Sharif was ousted from power. Former Army Chief Pervez Musharraf toppled his government in a bloodless coup in 1999, following which the PML-N leader was jailed and later allowed to leave the country and go into exile.

Successive dismissals of PML-N government have fueled the perception that Sharif does not have a good working relationship with the country’s judiciary and armed forces.

But Sharif rejected that perception in his interview with the BBC on Thursday.

“I have had a cordial relationship with Army generals. I have never deviated from the Constitution and strongly believe in the rule of law,” he said.The former prime minister added that during the 1999 coup against his government, Musharraf and some other generals were against him.

“The rest of the army was not even aware that there had been a coup and a large number of army men were not happy with the coup,” said the former premier.

He reiterating his stance regarding vote sanctity said that he would not allow anyone to damage the sanctity of the vote and his struggle will continue in this connection.

Replying to a question either he wanted to create Turkey like  situation in Pakistan where people came out and halted the military coup, he said “I am not in favour of collision among the institutions.”

“The situation of clash among the institution should not be created and he is not in its favour, however it is not only my responsibility but others as well,” he said.

Answering to question regarding his GTR rally, he said, ” It is not only a protest but also a campaign and I run this campaign not for becoming PM again as the PM slot is not a flowers bed but bed of thorns and it is itself a scarification.”

Nawaz claimed that the objective of Imran Khan-led PTI was to oust him from power and they had pursued the idea for years.The former premier further said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was affected due to the months-long sit-ins “but in spite of that, the country progressed”.

“The sit-in lasted for around four months, tell me what it was for?”

Moving on to his future plans, Sharif said: “A direction has now been identified and the struggle to uphold the sanctity of the vote will continue.”

While claiming that becoming prime minister again was no longer his goal, he also said that becoming one is in itself “not less of a sacrifice.”

Referring to criticism directed at him by the PPP leadership, which has distanced itself from the PML-N’s claims of democracy being in ‘crisis’, Nawaz said that: “I have not asked anything of him [Zardari] and neither do I plan to.”

Sharif, however, said he fully backed Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani’s suggestion of a dialogue between the state’s institutions and said that he had asked some of his friends to talk to Rabbani about his ideas.

“I never violated the Charter of Democracy during my tenure or before coming into power,” Sharif said, answering a question about the difference in attitude towards other political parties between when he is in power and when he is not.

During the interview, he also took aim at the Supreme Court-sanctioned joint investigation team (JIT) that investigated his family’s financial dealings in the Panamagate case, saying it comprised “some of the worst” of his enemies and critics.

Courtesy: BBC Urdu