LONDON, July 2: Former prime ministers Mian Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto on Sunday severely criticised General Pervez Musharraf with one of them saying he had undermined the country’s sovereignty and the other warning that dictatorship posed a serious threat to the unity of the country.

The leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and the Pakistan People’s Party delivered hard-hitting speeches at the first meeting of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy held outside the country.

Mr Sharif said he knew that the opposition parties did not have sufficient numerical strength in parliament to oust the general through a no-trust motion, yet the verdict given by the Supreme Court in the Pakistan Steel Mills privatisation case should not go unnoticed.

The president can be ousted through impeachment by a two-thirds majority in a joint session of both houses of parliament.

Leaders of all parties in the ARD, except two, were present at the meeting held in a hotel.

The PML-N chief said that general elections should not be held with Gen Musharraf in control of the government. Opposition parties, he said, should take their struggle to its logical conclusion. For this purpose, he added, all opposition parties should form a grand alliance, no matter whether it was named Grand National Alliance, Combined Opposition or the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy.

He said Gen Musharraf was punishable under Article 6 of the Constitution for violating the basic law, and that he (Sharif) too would commit the same offence if he struck a deal with him.

He was critical of all policies of Gen Musharraf, saying not only could the general face some tragedy, he would also lead the country to some disaster.

He praised the role of the ARD parties in keeping the democratic struggle going.

Referring to Gen Musharraf’s recent statement that he was a commando and would kill anybody who tried to take his life, the former prime minister said Pakistan was the only country where a commando was the head of state.

The situation in Balochistan and Waziristan, he said, was dangerous for the unity of the country. People who had helped Pakistan get what is Azad Jammu and Kashmir were being targeted, he regretted. He alleged that even India had not caused so much damage to Pakistan as was done by the generals.

He also accused Gen Musharraf of undermining the country’s sovereignty and self-respect by following the dictates of a superpower.

BENAZIR: Ms Bhutto, in her speech, said Gen Musharraf might hold elections in January-February 2008 and instal and a new government in March. Before the elections, she said, the general could replace the Shaukat Aziz government with one of technocrats.