Sharif verdict triggers Pak protests

February 26, 2009
Visionmp.com news service

Trouble erupted on Pakistan’s insides on Thursday as thousands of PML(N) supporters took to the streets in solidarity with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who along with his brother Shahbaz Sharif was on Wednesday barred from participating in the democratic process by the country’s highest judicial authority.

Protestors in Pakistan clashed with police set cars ablaze and blocked a key highway outside Islamabad in what is arguably the biggest protest against Zardari since he assumed office.

Sharif, leader of the country’s main opposition PML(N), urged the nation to rise up after the Supreme Court Wednesday barred him and his brother from holding public office and contesting elections.

Until the court ruling came into effect, Sharif’s brother Shahbaz was the chief minister of Punjab which was put under gubernatorial rule in Thursday.

Addressing the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Zardari said he was left with no constitutional alternative, but to impose governor’s rule in Punjab after the Sharif brothers declared war on the Presidency.

Sharif, leader of the country’s main opposition PML(N), urged the nation to rise up after the Supreme Court Wednesday barred him and his brother from holding public office and contesting elections.

Squabbles between Zardari and Sharif are nothing new in Pakistan, where the current political turmoil comes in the midst of a huge financial crisis and a raging conflict with Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives along its lawless north-western frontier bordering Afghanistan.

Addressing a rally in the Punjab town of Sheikhupura, Sharif said the Supreme Court had inflicted “tremendous harm” but the nation had risen up.

Repeating an oft-repeated line in Pakistani politics, Sharif said, “this gathering is a referendum against Zardari.”

He urged the attendees to march with him next month to seek the reinstatement of constitutional court judges sacked by Pervez Musharraf.

Police resorted to tear gas to disperse a mob of 500, who attempted to block the highway connecting Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

Protests were also witnessed in Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Muzaffarabad, Karachi, Quetta, several districts of Punjab and the NWFP.

With more protests anticipated over the next few days and, perhaps, weeks, media reports say paramilitary rangers have been deployed in at lest eight cities across Punjab.

Reacting to the developments, Aslam Raisani, chief minister of Baluchistan, said the verdict had thrown the democratic process out of gear.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the main ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) wanted to continue a policy of national reconciliation.

“If there is no consensus, external forces will benefit from the present situation,” he said.

The Supreme Court Wednesday upheld the verdict delivered by a Lahore Court last June that Sharif was ineligible to stand in a by-election due to past convictions.
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