Tuesday, 1 April 2014

PML-N splits in two over Pervez Musharraf’s exit





ISLAMABAD: The decision on whether or not to allow Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf to travel abroad seemed to have divided the opinion of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), as it failed to evolve a consensus on the issue Tuesday.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired a high level meeting to ponder over the issue, which emerged after the Special Court threw the ball in the government’s court. According to the court ruling, the accused could travel abroad if the government allowed him to.

Sources said the PML-N leaders split into to groups with one insisting on the immediate removal of Musharraf’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL) while the other opposed this idea.

The sources said that the meeting remained inconclusive but the prime minister had once again summoned the PML-N top guns to hold more consultations over the issue. They, however, agreed that Nawaz Sharif will make the final decision at the end of the deliberations.

Musharraf, who had filed two petitions in the Special Court to get the permission to travel abroad to visit her ailing mother and get his own medical treatment, submitted an application with the Interior Secretary on the heels of a court ruling which said only the government could decide if he be allowed to travel abroad or not.

Later, Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Director General Lt. Gen Zaheerul Islam flew into the Prime Minister House after a meeting of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz discussed much debated issue of Musharraf’s exit from the country.

The powerful military leaders arrived in a helicopter after the Prime Minister postponed a meeting on national security where both the army chief and the spymaster were invited.

Talking to Geo News, Information Minister Pervez Rashid said that that the PM had convened a consultative meeting to discuss the challenges facing the country.

Former president and Pakistan People’s Party leader Asif Ali Zardari also contacted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif through telephone to discuss the issue of Pervez Musharraf.

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