950821

Accuses Beg of being at cross purposes

Nawaz hints at

Ishaq-Asif-Benazir

collusion for

toppling his regime

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Former army chiefs General Aslam Beg and General Asif Nawaz exhibited intolerance towards him as prime minister, opposition leader Nawaz Sharif said on Monday, leaving the conduct of the present COAs General Abdul Waheed for the history to judge.

Talking to reporters in his parliament house chamber Nawaz Sharif said General Asif Nawaz "sponsored" the Benazir Bhutto's long march against him in 1992. "General Asif Nawaz was party to all such activities which caused my government great anxiety. As a result, we were handicapped in taking forward our development programmes."

He said Benazir Bhutto, who was then the opposition leader and was on the streets to topple the Nawaz Sharif government and the late COAs had "direct contacts", as well as they operated "through go-betweens".

Former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Asif Nawaz, also joined hands in destabilizing his elected government, Nawaz Sharif said, arguing that such a situation was "intolerable for a prime minister which he was."

Carefully choosing his words Nawaz Sharif accused former COAs Aslam Beg of working at "cross purposes" with him. Citing the widening divergence between them on the Gulf War in 1990 he said Aslam Beg was "at 180 degrees" away from his government policies, causing embarassment to Pakistan and confusion to the Arab leaders.

Now that you have commented on the atitudes of two former army chiefs, what do you think of the present COAs, Nawaz Sharif was asked. After a short pause, he said "let the history judge".

Nawaz Sharif's comments on the military leadership stemmed from his argument that he was opposed to the idea of a national government. The Constitution does not envisage a "national government", he said, adding it was Benazir Bhutto who as an opposition leader was prepared to accept Martial Law than to work with him in a democratic ambience.

Nawaz Sharif was certain that mid-term election is the only option before Prime Minister Bhutto, whose "ostrich-like attitude" would not be of any help to her. He said the Prime Minister knows that to the myriad problems including the Karachi turmoil, mid-term election provide the solution.

Nawaz Sharif also offered the government his hand of co-operation for constitutional reforms.

The former prime minister claimed that soundness of his economic policies has been vindicated, citing the present government's decision to add two more lanes to the Islamabad-Lahore motorway which were earlier dropped from the plan. It is another matter that for such a policy the country has to suffer additional Rs 10 billion, he added.