July 16, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 15, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

ISLAMABAD, July 15: The Pakistan Muslim League-N on Tuesday criticised Gen Pervez Musharraf for taking unilateral decisions on controversial issues, thus “endangering the interests of the armed forces as well as of the nation.”

A resolution passed by central PML-N leaders at a meeting here said the safeguarding of national interests demanded that the uniform must be separated from politics, and it should be used solely for the sacred duty of defending the country.

In view of this, the PML-N said, it rejected military involvement in politics and called upon uniformed persons to quit politics forthwith, it added.

Party chairman Raja Zafarul Haq said the PML-N considered the Legal Framework Order a means to “extend personal rule aimed at securing personal interests, and a document to destroy Pakistan’s independence, sovereignty, security and national interests.”

Only those politicians were supporting the idea of giving a political role to the military and insisting that the LFO was part of the Constitution who under normal circumstances would have been goaled or disqualified from contesting elections on charges of corruption and getting bank loans write-offs, he added.

Mr Haq said the combined opposition parties and their leaders had made a pledge to the nation that they would never hold talks with the government separately nor would they enter into any agreement with it individually.

The PML-N meeting had taken serious notice of individual announcements by certain components of the combined opposition with regard to the president’s uniform and the LFO, he said.

“This not only amounts to violating the (combined opposition) pledge but is also hurting the combined opposition’s struggle for restoration of the Constitution”, the PML-N chairman said.

He said the foreign policy of the present military regime was in conflict with constitutional demands and national interests. The recent developments in Afghanistan had caused new challenges to Pakistan.

The dangerous consequences of the military regime’s Afghan policy, he said, had started appearing.

Praising India for refusing to send its troops to Iraq, he said Pakistan should follow suit.

Discussing the newly promulgated contempt of court ordinance, the PML-N leader said it seemed that the Mushar-raf regime had practically blocked all avenues of justice, and had created the worst kind of “judicial and constitutional crisis.”