Government accepted the decision of court regarding the return of Sharif brothers to Pakistan with an open heart, and issued a very hopeful statement in this regard, which ignited the hope that now country would perhaps go towards a nation wide rapprochement and the present regime and political parties would come forward, join their forces to save the country from any sort of internal unrest.
Government earned many points when it once again showed the respect for the judiciary. The way, all the rumours of emergency and Marshal law were proved once again wrong, and the way the president Musharraf and prime minister Shaukat Aziz accepted the decision was commendable and due to this very nice government response, and the indications from Nawaz Sharif that he also didn’t want any politics of revenge and rage, it was widely felt that now nation would see a new era of mutual tolerance and respect.
But unluckily for couple of days, things once again seem to go awry from the government side. Seven years old cases are being reopened and attorney general has also said that Nawaz Sharif could be arrested if he arrives in the country. Another alarming thing is that a new constitutional package is being discussed which would limit the rights of court.
President Musharraf is busy in striking a deal with Benazir Bhutto and he calls it a national requirement. The question is why doenst he spreads this national interest net to other leaders and parties? Right now, all sorts of surveys and opinion polls conducted by disparate sources are confirming that Mian Nawaz Sharif is the most popular leader in the country, and the vocal and silent majority is with him. Those surveys also confirm that Benazir’s popularity graph is all time low along with the present regime.
It would be prudent for the government that it should itself call an all parties conference and invite every one, give impunity to all the exiled leaders, establish a neutral elections commission under the direction of judiciary, give a timeframe of caretaker system for the free and fair elections.
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