ISLAMABAD, July 22: Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) has asked President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to immediately resign, saying that both were disqualified to hold their offices after the Supreme Court’s verdict clearly established mala fide in the reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

“It has been proven that holding the chief justice in unlawful custody, convening of unlawful meeting of the Supreme Judicial Council, manhandling of the CJ, Karachi killings and unlawful arrest of thousands of political workers during judicial crisis were steps aimed at subjugating the judiciary,” PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal said while talking to reporters here on Monday.

He said this was most serious assault on the judiciary and, according to the Constitution, disqualified both Gen Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz to hold any office in government.

Answering a question about a statement of Benazir Bhutto that she does not demand resignation of Gen Musharraf, he said it was astonishing as her local party leadership had already demanded Musharraf’s resignation.

He said the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) meeting could only take place when all component parties give an assurance to strictly adhere to the Charter of Democracy and ARD’s code, which very clearly stops all parties from having parleys and soliciting support of military government for coming into government.