KARACHI: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari warned on Thursday that if ‘dictator’ Pervez Musharraf was allowed to leave the country, it would not be a good omen for democracy and the government would lose moral justification to stay in power.

Mr Bilawal said the ‘dictator’ was facing several cases in the court. “He is also nominated in the murder case of my mother Benazir Bhutto. But despite being summoned, he has never appeared in the court. He is also facing a treason case which is still undecided and is in its final stages.”

The PPP leader warned that the important case would remain pending without meeting requirements of the law if Mr Musharraf was allowed to flee from the country.

“The PPP has never got justice from courts so much so that (its founder) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged under a controversial judgement despite difference of opinion by some judges of the trial court,” he said.

Meanwhile, speaking at a press conference in Bilawal House, Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister Moula Bukhsh Chandio said that the court verdict in the ECL case of Mr Musharraf was like an ‘NRO’ (National Reconci­liation Ordinance) coming from the court.

“Mian Sahib, (a moniker of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif) has returned favour. All decisions pertaining to Mr Musharraf and taken by the government, including the decision to remove his name from the ECL, expose ‘Muk Muka’ (deal) between Musharraf and the government.”

“This is a crime because Musharraf had abrogated the constitution and detained judges in their houses,” the PPP leader concluded.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2016