November 17, 2008	Monday	Ziqa'ad 18, 1429

KARACHI, Nov 16: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has warned that the PCO judiciary is leading the country towards a new crisis.

The central information secretary of the PML-N, MNA Ahsan Iqbal, said this while addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Sunday.

Sardar Rahim, Mohammad Rafiq Butt and other local leaders of the PML-N were also present.

He said that if popular leaders like Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif were disqualified from contesting polls to protect the interests of a group, a new crisis would emerge and it would lead towards a new confrontation.

Mr Iqbal said that if the Pakistan People’s Party-led government had implemented the Murree Declaration by restoring the pre-Nov 3 judiciary and had not insisted on retaining the PCO judges, the PML-N would not have parted ways with the coalition government and there would not be any economic crisis in the country, which was forcing the government to swallow the bitter pill of the IMF.

Mr Iqbal said that if the PML-N were in the coalition government, there would have been political stability and an independent judiciary in the country.

He said that after the declaration of emergency, the country lost its political sovereignty and after the IMF loan the country would ultimately lose its economic sovereignty.

He demanded that the details of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund should be presented in parliament so that the nation should know what subsidies were being withdrawn and what taxes were being imposed and whether the IMF loan was in the interest of the country.

He regretted that 10 months had passed but the PPP-led government was still following the policies of the previous government.

He said decisions were still being taken by the president rather than by the prime minister.

The National Security Council created by former president Pervez Musharraf was still there and no initiative was taken to implement the Charter of Democracy for restoration of the Constitution to its pre-Oct 12, 1999 position, he said.

He urged the PPP government to respect agreements it made and stop pursuing the policies of the Musharraf government.

He recalled that Nawaz Sharif had assured the PPP that whatever measures would be taken by the party for supremacy of the Constitution, independence of the judiciary and prosperity and welfare of the people, the PML-N would fully back it.

He demanded the PPP move a bill in parliament to repeal the 17th Amendment, restore the independent judiciary, adopt a transparent system of accountability and reform the Election Commission as was mentioned in the Charter of Democracy.

The PML leader termed the privatisation of Qadirpur gas field against the interest of the country and said that it was an injustice with the people of Sindh.

He also criticised the huge size of the federal cabinet.