LAHORE: PPP leader Babar Awan warned on Friday that the “rope around the neck of the parliament was being tightened” and blamed opposition leader Nawaz Sharif for doing so. Awan, a former law minister, is seen to be close to President Zardari.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Awan said that those behind this conspiracy have done so four times in the past too and warned that these forces were active once again.Speaking at the residence of PPP Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Raja Riaz, Awan slammed Nawaz Sharif for moving the Supreme Court in the Memogate case. He also indirectly criticised the role of the judiciary in this regard.
Awan seemed to convey that Sharif and the judiciary have formed a nexus against the present democratic set-up. He called them the political “Tara Masih” of Pakistan. It may be recalled that Tara Masih was one the country’s most famous hangmen, who also led Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to the gallows.
Awan assured reporters that despite the conspiracy against the present government, it would complete its tenure, “come what may.”
Awan told reporters that Nawaz Sharif had earlier hatched conspiracies against the late Benazir Bhutto and helped topple her government twice. He added that the older generation of non-political leaders who took root in 1985, were now using the new generation as front men in the Memogate issue, citing the role he claimed was being played by Khawaja Asif, the son of former politician Khawaja Safder.
Awan said that Nawaz Sharif had joined forces with those who strangled democracy in Pakistan. He noted that on the unfortunate anniversary of December 16, the day when Pakistani forces surrendered to the Indians, another application had been moved in court which was a conspiracy against democracy. He referred to Ishaq Dar and Khawaja Asif who filed applications in the Supreme Court pleading to include three others in the Memogate hearings.
Awan said the constitution clearly stated the powers and limitations of every institution. He also warned the courts indirectly not to strangle democracy. “We should all support democracy which was established with the help of the ballot not the bullet.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2011.