Former leader’s return to challenge Musharraf foiled when he’s flown right back to Saudi Arabia
Sonya Fatah
THE TORONTO STAR
September 11, 2007
ISLAMABAD–Military muscle put an end to a former Pakistan prime minister’s game of political hop-scotch, forcing Nawaz Sharif to return to Saudi Arabia, the place of his initial exile more than seven years ago.
Sharif had hoped to return to his homeland yesterday greeted by an adoring, admiring public a few weeks after Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of his “inalienable right of return.”
Instead, thousands of his supporters were arrested, black-booted commandos formed a perimeter around his aircraft and he was taken into custody and charged with corruption. Sharif was then spirited to another plane and flown back to the Saudi city of Jiddah.
In Islamabad, the government defended its decision to deport Sharif in defiance of the court order, claiming it was in the “supreme interest” of the country, Associated Press reported.
Sharif’s forced exit from the political arena could deepen the growing unpopularity of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, the U.S.-allied general who seized power in 1999, and weaken the Pakistani public’s faith that free and fair general elections will return.
By disregarding the Supreme Court’s right of return ruling, Musharraf also seems to have set up another showdown with the judiciary. His firing earlier this year of Supreme Court Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry triggered upheaval across the country and was overturned by the Supreme Court in July.
Sharif’s ejection could also hasten the return of another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, and cement a power-sharing arrangement between Musharraf and Bhutto.
Yesterday, supporters of Sharif’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz group, didn’t raise much of a stink over his hasty deportation.
There were scattered protests in his traditional stronghold, Punjab – the largest and wealthiest of Pakistan’s provinces – but the arrests of key PML-N leaders may account for some of the silence.
Sharif’s supporters called a nationwide strike and demonstrations for today but many supporters in Lahore said they preferred to remain silent for fear of sacrificing their political and financial freedoms.
On the street, the public view was divided.
“We’ve been on duty for over 24 hours,” said one airport security official at Islamabad airport where security was tightened and increased in advance of Sharif’s arrival.
“We wear this uniform so we have no choice but to follow orders. But what they did to Mr. Sharif today was wrong,” he added.
Many Pakistanis feel for Sharif but few are expected to take to the streets of Islamabad or Lahore to call for his return or the restoration of full democracy not seen since Musharraf led a coup that ousted the democratically elected Sharif.
Instead of feeling galvanized, many expressed general frustration with their political leaders at home and in exile.
“Whatever they did to (Sharif) at the airport was unacceptable,” said Mohammad Hafeez, who drives a rental car at Islamabad’s airport and found himself outside the security perimeter in the morning.
“But you know what? They’re all thieves. Musharraf, Bhutto, Nawaz. What do they care for us?”
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