ISLAMABAD, Dec 2: The Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) on Thursday again denied that party chief Nawaz Sharif was under a 10-year ban on taking part in politics and issued a detailed “fact-sheet” highlighting various political activities in which Mr Sharif had participated during the days he spent in exile.

On the other hand, without caring for the PML-N’s stance, information secretary of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Fauzia Wahab through a statement felicitated Mr Sharif over completion of the 10-year agreement that he had signed in the year 2000 before leaving the country for Saudi Arabia.

“It is a day of happiness for the PML-N that the ban on Nawaz Sharif over taking part in active politics has been lifted,” Ms Wahab said in her statement that apparently was issued in en effort to nullify the fact-sheet earlier issued by the PML-N.Ms Wahab said the PPP could understand the mental torture through which Mr Sharif would have passed at the time of signing the deal after which he had to leave the country leaving his party members in a lurch. “We can realize the agony which Mr Sharif would have faced when Prince Maqran of Saudi Arabia and Saad Hariri from Lebanon had held a news conference in Islamabad reminding Mr Sharif about his “exile agreement” with Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf,” she said.

Meanwhile, the PML-N’s fact-sheet states: “Certain political opponents and anti-democracy elements are now claiming Nawaz Sharif had, under some obnoxious bilateral accord, been restrained from pursuing active politics for a period of 10 years and the stipulated ban had ended on Thursday, is highly ridiculous and absurd for a person who had devoted his life to change the destiny of the people and bring Pakistan in the comity of honourable nations.”

“The fact, on the contrary, is that the PML-N Quaid has not, even for a single moment, quit active politics after his government, chosen by the people, was overthrown by the dictator,” it adds.

It says that Mr Sharif signed the Charter of Democracy with Benazir Bhutto in London in May 2006 which is a clear evidence that Mr Sharif engaged himself in uninterrupted persuasion of active politics. Besides this, Mr Sharif convened a session of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) on July 2, 2006, which was attended by as many as 33 political parties.

Moreover, it says, during the exile Mr Sharif addressed the people of Pakistan telephonically for no less than 153 occasions, besides speaking at 33 news conferences and giving 17 interviews to BBC, CNN, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Voice of America and Daily Mail.

On his return home for the second time, Mr Sharif submitted his nomination papers to participate in 2008 elections. If there was any ban on PML-N chief’s taking part in politics, why did Gen Musharraf not submit the same as a reason and used oft-repeated allegations to get Nawaz Sharif’s nomination papers rejected.

“One wonders what kind of the ban on Nawaz Sharif’s political participation was that he addressed as many as 37 election rallies in election campaign and also held huge public meetings for the subsequent by-elections”, says the fact-sheet.“The story does not end here. Nawaz Sharif signed as a PML-N chief the milestone Bhurban accord on Mar 9, 2008. If this was not politics what else it can be termed,” it adds.