Pakistan in Media

Nothing concrete was achieved at the talks held between President Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad. There was no breakthrough on the NRO or any other decision that could be classified as significant. Some media reports suggest that the two men did little more than break bread together. But despite this, the dialogue is immensely significant. It has come at a time when rumour has been rife of change and possible military intervention. A meeting held recently between Mian Shahbaz Sharif and the army chief COAS fuelled talk of conspiracy and various scenarios were drawn up. Some at least watched and waited with bated breath. After all we are familiar with the way such things happen in our country. The Zardari-Nawaz meeting as such creates some sense of calm. It indicates that the two main political forces are not opposed to the idea of working together and sharing ideas on how this can happen. Indeed, the lack of discussion on the NRO is highly intriguing. Nawaz Sharif was expected to press for it to be repealed. That he did not apparently do so indicates he is keen to work with the president and perhaps also willing to let him and his key aides of the hook.

The issues brought up at the meeting included the 17th Amendment. The PML-N chief remains eager for this to be done away with, thus making it possible for him to again take charge as PM. An undoing of the clause would of course also reduce the powers held by the president and help restore the balance towards parliament. It appears that there has been a broad understanding, though possibly no firm commitment, that this will happen. Balochistan, militancy, the need for administrative reform and the need for political cooperation were also discussed. The many voices we hear criticizing politicians are once again describing this meeting as a failure. But it is perhaps unfair to do so. At this juncture, the ability of political parties to avoid falling into traps and to set democratic traditions has become paramount. Over the past few months we have been seeing how easy it is to stumble and fall, and repeat mistakes we have seen made on previous occasions. The indication that the political opposition is aware of the need to avoid this is welcome.

LAHORE: When President Asif Zardari meets the PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif today (Monday) (in Islamabad), this is the 11th time when the duo will be sitting across the table since Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in December 2007.

Sources in both the political camps told The News while Asif Zardari might seek Nawaz Sharif’s help during today’s meeting in getting the National Reconciliation Ordinance validated through the Parliament in November; the PML-N was likely to press the president for abolishing all ‘undemocratic’ clauses from the 17th Constitutional Amendment.

These sources said that President Zardari might also seek Sharif’s support in changing the name of NWFP to ‘Pakhtoonkhwa’ in line with the wishes of the ANP Chief Asfandyar Wali. The PML-N has already opposed the change of name for NWFP.

This scribe also heard on the grapevine that the situation in Waziristan and its probable fall-out in the wake of the ongoing army operation in the mountains might also come under discussion along with the harsh conditions incorporated in the Kerry-Lugar Law.

These sources did not rule out the chances that Nawaz Sharif might also touch on former President Pervez Musharraf’s trial issue amidst an air of the ever-increasing mistrust between the leaders of the two largest political parties in the country.

It, however, remains to be seen what president agrees to offer in return to the PML-N for the validation of the NRO amidst reports that MQM is not very supportive towards this issue to the sheer dismay of Zardari.

The News International,Pakistan, Saturday, July 18, 2009
Zardari, Nawaz agree to repeal 17th Amendment; PML-N Quaid wants PPP to consult legal experts on Musharraf’s trial; expresses concern over price-hike, drone attacks, Balochistan situation; seeks amendments to LGO; Zardari assures Nawaz of accommodating PML-N suggestions.

LAHORE: President Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif, during their marathon meeting here on Friday, reached consensus on repealing the 17th Amendment, securing the reserved seats for women and the joint electorate in the light of an accord, reached between the two parties under the Charter of Democracy.

The PML-N leader reportedly also asked the president to improve the government’s performance or else growing public anger might pose a grave threat to democracy in the country. The two leaders, along with their close aides, had a lunch together at Nawaz Sharif’s Raiwind residence and discussed a number of issues of national and international significance.
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The News International, Pakistan, Friday, July 17, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court of Pakistan five-member bench unanimously acquitting Muslim League-N Quaid, Nawaz Sharif in about ten months old plane hijacking case has declared Sindh High Court (SHC)’s earlier decisions invalid.

Headed by Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, the five-member SC bench consists of Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Ghulam Rabbani, Justice Mohammad Moosa K Leghari and Justice Sheikh Hakim Ali.

Earlier on June 18, the same bench had reserved the verdict after the counsels for both sides had concluded their arguments.

Nawaz was sentenced to life imprisonment twice by the Karachi Anti-Terrorism Court (APC) in April 2000, after the APC found him guilty of refusing to allow a commercial aircraft – carrying Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, the army chief at that time, along with 200 other passengers – to land at the Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, Karachi on October 12, 1999.
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The News International, Pakistan, Friday, July 03, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Top Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders will seriously question in the next party meeting its senior stalwarts, including Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, about their support to the division of the Punjab. “The issue will come up in the next PML-N meeting to be presided over by Nawaz Sharif,” PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal confirmed to The News.
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The News International, Pakistan, Sunday, June 28, 2009
The tide seems to be running in favour of the PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif being able to contest elections. A bench of the LHC has now acquitted him in a case involving the purchase of a helicopter. Nawaz Sharif had been convicted in 2000, sentenced to a jail term and a hefty fee, for the acquisition of the aircraft, on the grounds that the funds used for this were not covered in his declared assets.

The ruling of course means that Sharif can contest polls. Both the president and the prime minister have been quick to congratulate him on this. The more harmonious political environment put in place after the long march that ended with the restoration of the chief justice of Pakistan persists. This is welcome. The fact that the head of a major party can take part in the electoral process is also important. It acts to strengthen our struggling democracy and offer up greater choice of leadership to people. There is another aspect to all this. The LHC has noted many loopholes and flaws in the 2000 decision by a trial court. It is not hard to see that this may have been politically motivated. We are all of course familiar with the mechanics of this. Similar accusations have surfaced in the past and indeed are also coming forward in the case involving the alleged hijacking of an aircraft by Nawaz Sharif in 1999.
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The News International, Pakistan, Saturday, June 27, 2009
RAWALPINDI: In a short order, the LHC bench announced: “To secure the ends of justice, we condone the delay in filing the appeal. The judgment of the trial court dated July 22, 2000, whereby Mian Nawaz Sharif had been convicted and sentenced is set aside on account of:

i) Lack of evidence connecting the appellant with the commission of offence charged.

ii) Gross illegalities and irregularities committed by the trial court in proceedings.

iii) Glaring lapses on the part of prosecution.

The appellant stands acquitted of all the charges.”
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The News International, Pakistan

Monday, June 15, 2009
More than eight years after the controversy over the alleged ‘hijacking’ of a commercial plane carrying then COAS General Pervez Musharraf made headlines amidst the dramatic overthrowing of the second PML-N government, the issue has crept back out of dusty files. The Sindh government has placed before the apex court documents which reveal the details of the exile accord reached between the Sharifs and the military-led setup, allowing them at the end of 2000 to exchange prison cells for a Saudi palace. There had for years been debate over the contents of the deal, with the Sharifs claiming they went into ‘forced exile’, after being convicted in the plane diversion case by an Anti-Terrorism Court. Mian Nawaz Sharif had at the time refused to appeal a life sentence in the case, upheld by the Sindh High Court, on the basis that he lacked confidence that the judiciary which had taken oath under a PCO was independent.
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Daily Times, Pakistan
Wednesday, June 10, 2009

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif cannot contest polls until an appeal against his conviction in the plane hijacking conspiracy cases is under adjudication in the Supreme Court (SC), said Sindh Advocate General Muhammad Yousaf Leghari on Tuesday. Talking to reporters on the SC premises, the AG said, “Not in my official capacity, but in my personal opinion, Nawaz cannot contest polls as long as his appeal ... is under adjudication before the SC.” masood rehman

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Daily Times, Pakistan
Wednesday, June 10, 2009

* Sindh government presents record before Supreme Court
* PML-N chief left country of his own accord for 10 years

By Masood Rehman

ISLAMABAD: The Sindh government on Tuesday presented before the Supreme Court records of a presidential pardon granted to Nawaz Sharif, remission of his sentence and undertakings signed by the PML-N chief.

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif was not pardoned in the plane hijacking case. Instead his sentence was remitted, a private TV channel reported on Monday.

The channel claimed to have limited access to a presidential document that had apparently pardoned the PML-N chief in the plane hijacking case. The document – soon to be placed before the Supreme Court by the government – showed that while Nawaz was exempted from serving the sentence in the hijacking case, his status as a convict was not changed by the then president, according to the channel.

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By CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer
Tue, May 26, 2009

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's top court on Tuesday lifted a ban on popular opposition leader Nawaz Sharif contesting elections, paving the way for his return to parliament and removing the first major barrier to him becoming prime minister for a third time.

Sharif is key to the hopes of Pakistan's Western allies that its moderate political parties will unite to fight the Islamic extremists who are destabilizing the nuclear-armed country as well as threatening the success of the U.S.-led mission in neighboring Afghanistan.

The ruling came as Pakistan's army claimed more gains in a month-long offensive in the northwestern Swat Valley and surrounding districts that has been welcomed by foreign governments but has displaced more than 2 million people from their homes.

Judges at the Supreme Court overturned an earlier ruling banning Sharif from elected office because of a criminal conviction dating to 2000 that he and most analysts say was politically motivated. They said it was a "miscarriage of justice," but gave no reason.

Sharif gave no hint of his political plans in a news conference minutes after the verdict, but he is now free to return to parliament by contesting a by-election when a seat becomes available. To become prime minister in polls in 2013, he would have to lobby lawmakers to overturn a constitutional bar on holding the position three times — something his party has long demanded.

"I would like to salute the people of Pakistan again because they, with great effort and struggle, fought for the independence of the judiciary," said Sharif, whom opinion polls easily show as the country's most popular politician. "I would like to thank God almighty."

Sharif's party came second in parliamentary elections last year, behind the party of President Asif Ali Zardari. The two parties originally formed a government together, but after two months Sharif's grouping became the opposition, accusing Zardari of reneging on a vow to restore judges fired by former President Pervez Musharraf.

Media reports quoting unnamed U.S. officials early this year suggested the United States was trying to encourage the increasingly unpopular Zardari to give more power to Sharif as a way of shoring up the country's moderate center.

Zardari, the widower of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the head of Pakistan's largest party, has cultivated ties with the U.S. and sought to rally Pakistanis behind the fight against Islamic extremists. But his popularity began withering soon after he assumed office a year ago amid a punishing economic crisis and persistent terror attacks.

Critics say Sharif remains close to conservative Muslim factions that are not so vocal in their opposition to the Taliban and see the conflict as "America's War," but his party is secular and supports the government's offensive against the militants in the Swat Valley.

"America's interest is in keeping these two major political parties on the same page in the war on terror," said Rasul Bakhsh Rais, professor of political science at Lahore University of Management Sciences.

Sharif has said he will not destabilize Zardari's government or campaign for early elections, but given the turbulent nature of Pakistani politics, that could change. Since its creation in 1947, only one government in Pakistan has seen through its five-year term.

Rais said he thought Sharif would wait until to 2013 — assuming he won the right — to run for prime minister. He noted that current Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was popular among most parties. Instead, he predicted that Sharif would make a renewed push to roll back some of the powers that Zardari inherited from Musharraf.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled Sharif was not eligible for office, a decision it said was final.

But in response Sharif led nationwide protests against the government, which backed down and allowed him to appeal the decision — a move praised by the United States and Britain.

It also agreed to reinstate the chief justice, another key demand of Sharif.

Sharif returned from exile in 2007 seeking to contest elections, but was disqualified by a court because of a prior criminal conviction on terrorism and hijacking charges stemming from the 1999 coup against Sharif's government by then-Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

The army meanwhile said government troops had reclaimed control of more than half of the biggest town in the Swat Valley, Mingora, and had scared off local recruits who had initially joined with the Taliban.

"The information we have so far from intelligence and other sources is that militants' morale is down, they are panicked and they are trying to flee from different parts" of the valley, said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas.

The military account of the campaign is impossible to verify because the battle zone is largely sealed off to reporters. The military says it has killed about 1,100 suspected insurgents and kept civilian casualties to a minimum. Witnesses have described widespread civilian casualties.

Elsewhere in the northwest, intelligence officials said Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships attacked suspected militant hide-outs in two villages in South Waziristan, killing at least six insurgents and wounding 12 others. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

Syed Mohsin Shah, the top government official in nearby Dera Ismail Khan district, said some 1,500 families have fled from South Waziristan in the past few weeks because of fighting between the two sides.

Aid officials fear a second refugee crisis could emerge in the fighting worsens in Waziristan.

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