We neither called Musharraf a traitor, nor registered a case against him, says Khursheed

ISLAMABAD: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Tuesday said the Pakistan People’s Party will not fall into the trap of those who wanted to bring back the politics of the 90s, adding that they took oath from former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, so how could they call him a traitor.

“We want a continuation of parliament and not war, but Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has some snakes up his sleevesHowever, we will not go against Parliament come what may,” he said, while talking to newsmen at his chamber in the Parliament House. He said that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan wanted to defame Nawaz Sharif.

When asked about the claim of Ahmed Raza Kasuri, close aide of General (R) Pervez Musharraf, who claimed that the former president went abroad under a deal with the Nawaz Sharif government, Khursheed said that so far no clarification has come from both sides. “It was not first deal and it was a coincidence that Musharraf sent Nawaz Sharif abroad under a deal and now Nawaz Sharif allowed Musharraf to go abroad under a deal,” he added.

He said such a powerful man had preferred to enter into deal to go aboard and his party man Ahmed Raza Kasuri claimed the deal, and so far no clarification has been made by Musharraf so far on this claim.

Khursheed Shah said the PPP did not declare Musharraf as a ‘traitor’ but it was the Nawaz Sharif government that initiating the case under Article 6 of the Constitution. He said Parliament should have been taken into confidence before removing the name of a person who was facing case under Article 6. “When the prime minister took Parliament into confidence before initiating the case under Article 6 of the Constitution then why did he not take Parliament nod prior to removing the name of Musharraf from the ECL,’ he questioned.

He said there should not be two sets of rules in the politics and the PPP always did the politics on principles. “We did not register the case against Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution in our five years tenure, so how could we become a party in this case and how could we declare him traitor when we took oath from him?” he asked.

He said if the case under Article 6 of had been registered against Musharraf on October 12 coup then facilitators, including Justice (R) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, would have come under it.

To a question with regard to the PPP entering into the NRO with Musharraf, the opposition leader said the NRO benefited all the political parties and it was difficult for Sharif brothers to return to the country if there was no NRO.

He recalled that when the PPP possessed 17 seats in the National Assembly in 1997 then late Nawabzada Nasarullah Khan suggested for resigning from the assemblies to launch a movement against the government but the PPP refused it and Benazir Bhutto announced at that time that her party wanted continuation of Parliament rather confrontation.

“Benazir Bhutto Shaheed announced that she did not want to turn Parliament into musical chair game,” he added. To a question, the opposition leader said only the Interior Ministry could shift Musharraf from Islamabad to Karachi.