“I am not commenting on the ‘taking away shine’ [comment by the
president],” says PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif. PHOTO: Express
PESHAWAR:
In retaliation to the president’s continued tirades against him, Nawaz Sharif played it cool on Friday – and refused to take the bait.
The chief of the principal opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N), seemed to take the moral high road in his brief
interaction with the media in Peshawar, saying: “I am not commenting on
the ‘taking away shine’ [comment by the president]”.
About being called a ‘refugee’ by the president, he said that such
statements will further polarise nation and should be avoided.The most surprising statement by President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday, regarding the number of people present for the funeral of Nawaz’s father, was met by an equally surprising response by the PML-N chief.
He recalled that, when the president’s father was ill in London, he had gone to enquire about his health – and added that he still prays for his salvation.
Nawaz did say that the incumbent government’s performance was ‘below zero’.
Another party of the opposition, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam–Fazal (JUI-F), however, was more vocal in its response.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the president had politically lowered himself by issuing derogatory statements regarding the funeral of Sharif’s father.
He advised the PML-N not to respond to the remarks, and said that it now appeared that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)’s politics was not that of reconciliation.
Punjab law minister
While Nawaz remained silent, the PML-N’s other senior leaders responded in kind to the president. Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the statements of President Zardari are a proof of his ‘mental bankruptcy’. He added that one can hardly believe that the head of a state can use such words in a speech. He said that President Zardari owes his ‘shine’ to the looted wealth.
In a statement, Rana Sanaullah said that President Zardari can visit Punjab to his heart’s content but the people of this province will show him his true level of popularity here.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2012.
