ISLAMABAD, April 25 Where many people term the appointment of General Pervez Musharraf as army chief in 1998 a big blunder by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif a top PML-N leader now claims that Musharraf was the best option available.

“The prime minister made the final decision. I did support Musharraf to become the Chief of Army Staff... But the decision was based purely on merit given his professional track record,” PML-N central leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, told DawnNews, in an interview.

Critics blamed Chaudhry Nisar and his brother Lt Gen (r) Iftikhar Ali Khan, the then defence secretary, for persuading Nawaz Sharif to appoint General Musharraf as army chief.

But Chaudhry Nisar, who is also the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly nowadays, did not have any regrets of favouring General Musharraf to the top slot.Asked whether the military coup of October 1999 was the result of that bad judgement, he observed they supported Musharraf to become the army chief not the Chief Martial Law Administrator.

Chaudhry Nisar also justified the appointment of General Musharraf as Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee after the Kargil fiasco.

He asserted the decision to appoint General Musharraf as chairman of the JCSC was made to boost the moral of the armed forces. He said the PML-N government did not want to act against the generals, who masterminded and executed Kargil operation.

Not only General Pervez Musharraf himself, but many former close aides of Nawaz Sharif including Chaudhry Shujaat and Mushahid Hussain, already stated that Kargil operation was conducted with full consent of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Chaudhry Nisar did not deny the ambition of attaining the top political office of the prime minister. “When you are in politics then you struggle. And whatever comes you take it. You take the good with bad. As and when situation arises you face it,” he observed, when asked whether or not he wants to become the prime minister.

He said whatever the case may be he would not make any categorical observation while sitting in a television interview.

DawnNews will telecast the complete interview today (Sunday) at 730pm.