QUETTA – PML-N President Nawaz Sharif said that when the Supreme Court had taken action over the memo issue, there was no need on the part of the government to form a committee on it and conduct a parallel investigation.
He asked the prime minister to take the opposition into confidence if there was any threat to democratic system, as he talked to media persons here Saturday before his departure for Lahore. Nawaz stressed that the prime minister should not hide anything from the opposition and the nation.
The PML-N president said that on coming into power his party would hold accountable those not honouring the verdicts of the courts. He said from day one the government has not respected the judgments of the judiciary. He said the Supreme Court has great respect in the eyes of the people and neither will it come under pressure of an individual nor they will let it happen.
Nawaz said people all over the country want immediate elections, but the president and the prime minister were giving hints of elections in October. He said in democracy, everyone has the right to express his opinion and differ with others view which is beauty of the system. He denied reports of his possible meeting with the president and wondered what meeting Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani was talking about.
He said the PML-N would not take in its fold those who talked about electing Musharraf as president in uniform for 10 times. However, he said, doors of the party were open to those who did not cause any harm to it. He said the country has been pushed back by 10 years by a dictator and the problems in Balochistan today were due to the acts of Musharraf.
Nawaz reiterated that his party would re-launch development projects in Balochistan and Gwadar Port would be made one of the most modern ports in the world, coastal highway would be completed and a national moot on Balochistan would be convened soon to which all political parties would be invited. He said the national conference would identify Balochistan problems and come up with a comprehensive strategy on how to resolve them. He said he would soon summon his party’s provincial and district level office bearers and hold consultations with them on Balochistan problem.
Earlier, PML-N workers rejected the provincial party polls by calling it selection of favourites and resorted to rumpus, forcing Nawaz Sharif to leave the gathering without addressing the convention.
On the second day of Nawaz’ visit to Quetta, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri was elected as provincial president of the N-League Balochistan while Naseebullah Bazai was elected as general secretary in the provincial party vote. A number of party workers rejected the elections of both the leaders, after which the workers were divided into two groups and started chanting slogans for and against the decision, creating unrest in the ceremony.
The party’s workers, pushing the journalists back, stopped them from entering the convention in view of the argument over the nominations. The convention ended in chaos forcing Nawaz to dash out of the hall without saying any word. N-League activists in Balochistan have already made public that if their reservations were not addressed by the party leadership, they would quit the party.
It was reported that strong reservations were present among activists of PML-N in Balochistan and many were planning to quit the party while the visit of Nawaz was aimed at settling differences among the party activists, but the mayhem at the convention showed that many activists would quit the party. Reports say that some of the N-League activists in Balochistan have already showed eagerness to join Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) because many political leaders of various parties were joining hands with Imran Khan hoping that only Imran’s PTI would bring change in the country.
Prior to attending the workers convention, Nawaz met a delegation of traders and industrialists of the province. He told them that Balochistan can be metamorphosed towards better situation by setting up industries in the province. He also lamented the plight of labourers in the province.