Ex-spy chief asked me to quit — Sharif
HIS COMMENTS ARE LIKELY TO FURTHER FRAY TENSE CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS
Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday accused a former intelligence chief of asking him to resign during opposition protests in 2014, comments likely to further fray tense civil-military relations ahead of general elections.
Sharif’s allegations, made in court documents before the three-time premier read them to a news conference, were a rare explicit accusation by the veteran leader of political meddling by the military.
Musharraf case
In other thinly-veiled remarks aimed at the military, Sharif, who was ousted by the Supreme Court in July, also suggested he was removed from office over his foreign policy stance and refusal to drop a treason case against former army dictator Pervez Musharraf.
Sharif said the 2014 protests organised by opposition figure Imran Khan, which paralysed capital Islamabad for several months, were designed to send him a message that no good would come from pursuing the Musharraf case.
“Those days, a message was sent to me from the chief of an intelligence agency that I should resign, and if that is not possible, I should go on a long leave,” Sharif said, without identifying either.
“The demand for my resignation or going on long leave was based on this impression that if Nawaz Sharif was removed from the way it wouldn’t be difficult to wrap up the case against Musharraf.”
Pakistan has a host of intelligence agencies but in the past the military-run InterServices Intelligence (ISI) spy agency has most often been accused of election meddling.
The military, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has denied it is behind any political interference in the run-up to the general elections expected in July.
Sharif, the founder of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, was removed by the Supreme Court over a small source of undeclared income, and later deemed ineligible to head any political party, but has de facto control of PML-N.