“Sharif’s return will not affect our vote bank”

Q. The opposition parties, particularly the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PMLN), say that the government has manipulated the elections. These two parties also say that they have no confidence in the chief election commissioner…

A. This is typical of the PPP. Whenever it wins the election, it declares them fair but when it loses, the party accuses the government of having rigged them. This time, however, it has changed its strategy slightly and has started accusing the government before the election — the party can foresee its defeat. As far as Nawaz Sharif is concerned, he came back under a deal with the government. He knows that the people are likely to reject him and hence is engaged in mud-slinging.

Let me clarify the appointment of the chief election commissioner. I had proposed that every political party should recommend three people for the post. We thought we would try to select a consensus candidate after the names were proposed. However, despite repeated requests to Makhdoom Amin Fahim, he did not come up with any suggestions. They do not have any justification now to make a hue and cry about the partiality of the chief election commissioner.

Q. So the opposition’s accusation that the elections are being manipulated is merely an effort at face-saving…

A. Of course, the accusations are rubbish. PPP leadership has been telling the media and foreign diplomats that the government will stuff ballot boxes with 20,000 bogus votes. When the ballot boxes are transparent, how can they be stuffed with fake votes?

Q. Why are the Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid-e-Azam (PMLQ) candidates being provided official security and protocol?

A. No official protocol has been provided to any PMLQ candidate. Such rumours are the result of a vilification campaign.

Q. Does your party face any disadvantages in the coming elections?

A. I do not see any disadvantage for our candidates. The kind of development that has taken place during the time of our government has never happened before. For example, Sharif only made the motorway, which is just 350 kilometres long, and he makes tall claims about the development that took place during his tenure. On the other hand, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had a 75,000-kilometre-long road network laid down in the Punjab. There has been massive development in Balochistan and the Frontier province. Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim too initiated new development schemes in Sindh. I am sure people will respond to the performance of our government and will vote for our candidates to enable us to finish some of the projects that we initiated.

Q. Why did your party support the imposition of emergency?

A. We supported it for genuine reasons. The overall security situation was out of control. It was a question of the country’s survival. Swat is a case in point.

Q. An army operation could have been launched in Swat without imposing emergency in the country…

A. That would not have been possible. When there is a civilian government, the army assists it. It cannot operate on its own.

Q. Do you not agree that the emergency was only imposed to remove the judges who could have questioned General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s eligibility as a presidential candidate?

A. The judges were biased. Some of the decisions they gave were political. Their activism led to the executive being at war with the judiciary. We tried to talk to them but they were not willing to listen to anyone. I do not want to get into that debate but they were bent upon derailing the entire system.  

Q. How many seats is your party likely to win?

A. I think we will win a two-thirds majority this time. From the Punjab alone we are likely to win 100 to 110 seats.

Q. In fact, this is what Benazir Bhutto was saying: that the establishment is planning to rig the elections at 100 to 110 seats in the Punjab…

A. I do not want to comment on something that has no foundation. International observers will be monitoring the elections.

Q. There are accusations that your party has only given tickets to influential individuals…

A. What is the harm in giving tickets to those who are capable of winning? You cannot give a ticket to someone you know will lose.

Q. So does this mean that parties should not try to introduce new people…

A. We have tried to introduce new faces. In the last election, we had 40 per cent new people. The older ones had to take a back seat because of the graduation condition.

Q. But don’t most of them come from the same political families?

A. What’s wrong with that? How can you deny a young graduate his right to contest in the election because he comes from a certain political family? We should not deny anyone this right.

Q. Why didn’t the party give a ticket to Shaukat Aziz?

A. We offered him a ticket but he said he would not like to contest.

Q. Aziz had said that he would be contesting from four seats and not just one. Some of his close aides were also denied party tickets. Hina Rabbani Khar is a case in point…

A. That is not true. Aziz himself announced that he would not contest the election. And we had kept a ticket for Khar. She chose to betray the party before we even announced the party tickets.

Q. You are also accused of undermining the national reconciliation process initiated by Musharraf…

A. National reconciliation was my idea. But when I realised that certain individuals were trying to use it for personal gain, I opposed it. Reconciliation has to be for everyone.

Q. How much has Sharif’s return affected your vote bank?

A. It is not going to affect us because he has already exposed himself by showing his cowardice to the people.

Q. And what if the PPP and PMLN put forward joint candidates?

A. Then I’ll be very happy. If there is a triangular fight between us, the PPP candidate will have the advantage. Sharif’s candidates will divide our vote and this can go in favour of the PPP. But if those two are contesting together, the Muslim League voter will never vote for the PPP. In that case, the Muslim League votes will not be divided.

Most of the interviews were conducted before the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007.