Musharraf’s appointment was Nawaz’s biggest mistake: Abida

KARACHI: Former federal minister Begum Abida Hussain has said that appointment of Pervez Musharraf as the army chief was Nawaz Sharif’s biggest political mistake.
The former federal minister said this during a special interview to senior journalist Sohail Warriach on Geo News.She said that when she was elected member of the National Assembly for the first time, no male member of the assembly was willing to sit next to her.
Begum Abida Hussain said that her autobiography focuses on the country’s political deterioration. She said she had not been a part of IJI. Begum Abida Hussain said that it is incorrect to say that she had supported dictators, adding that she had stood up to Generals Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf.
She said her life’s biggest regret was not being able to be Punjab chief minister. She said she had favoured toppling Benazir Bhutto’s governments on both occasions.
Begum Abida Hussain said that the title of her autobiography is ‘Political Failure’, and it focuses on the political deterioration in the country. She said most of the politicians of her generation have failed because there has been an increase in the problems the country faced. She said she did the right thing when she took part in the local bodies’ elections in 1979.
Begum Abida Hussain said that she had been offered the post of the Leader of the Opposition during Benazir Bhutto’s first government, but she declined the offer because she had been very much impressed by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and thus she thought that she should not oppose his daughter. She said Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was much more intelligent than Benazir Bhutto. Benazir was an amalgam of her mother’s modesty and her father’s intelligence.
Begum Abida Hussain said that Abdul Wali Khan’s political rhetoric used to be based on realism, though it contained some bitterness too. He used to say that Pakistan’s power seat contained some adhesive so that when the incumbent sat in it they got glued to it and did not part with it until someone snatched it from them.
Begum Abida Hussain termed the Nawab Akbar Bugti incident as one of the greatest tragedies of the country. She said the federation should facilitate Brahumdagh Bugti’s return to the country to make peace with the Baloch people.
She told Sohail Warriach that the best episode of ‘Aik Din Geo Kay Sath’ (which Warriach hosts) was the one which featured Agha Shahi.
Begum Abida Hussain reiterated that appointing Pervez Musharraf as the army chief was Nawaz Sharif’s biggest mistake and he paid a heavy price for it. She said she had been in favour of General Ali Kuli Khan’s appointment as the COAS because he had been senior to Musharraf. Besides, General Ali Kuli Khan would never have derailed democracy. She said she had then advised Nawaz Sharif to appoint General Ali Kuli Khan as the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee to which the prime minister had said that he would have to consult with Musharraf on that proposition.
Begum Abida Hussain said she had never had a desire to be appointed ambassador to the United States. She said we should never ignore our national interests even if it antagonized the United States.
Begum Abida Hussain termed the bureaucracy self-serving. She said the country’s biggest problem is overpopulation. She said the government should punish those who increase the size of their families to beyond two children and reward those who restrict their families to a single child.
The former federal minister said that she is a diehard Punjabi, and that she feels that we should not have put Urdu on a high pedestal because the outcome was that now a youth in Jhang cannot speak ‘Jhanguchi’.
Begum Abida Hussain said she has always believed in liberal-progressive politics.Commenting on her support for dissolving the PPP-dominated assemblies twice in the 1990s, she said that the alternative to not doing so would have been military intervention.
Begum Abida Hussain said that Lady Diana had been interested in Imran Khan, and she wanted to see Imran Khan when she visited Pakistan, but that could not happen because Imran was away playing cricket in Australia.
She said Ghulam Ishaq Khan had tremendously impressed her. He was a very honest man. Begum Abida Hussain said that until we separate religion from the affairs of the state we will continue to be haunted by extremism.