Musharraf safe so long as PPP does not support Nawaz's 'restore CJI' move: Aides

Islamabad, Mar 5 : Even as stage seems all set for the formation of PPP-PML(N) coalition government in Pakistan, close aides of President Pervez Musharraf are of the opinion that the President is safely placed and faces no threat as far as Asif Ali Zardari remains indifferent to Nawaz Sharif's "restore Chief Justice and oust Musharraf" move.

"No problem, the President is safe as long as the PPP does not support the 'oust-Musharraf, restore-CJ' agenda of Nawaz Sharif. To the best of our knowledge, the PPP is not on board against the president and on restoration of sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry," The News quoted a source close to the President as saying.

Musharraf's aides are confident that the Zardari's PPP does not buy Nawaz's idea (of oust Musharraf and restore CJI) because the party is aware of Nawaz's strategy of first getting the CJI restored followed by disqualification of Musharraf by the restored CJI, and then wage a war against the PPP to ultimately capture the Centre.

That explains why Nawaz Sharif does not want to join the PPP government, though he is ready to extend support to the PPP in the National Assembly, said the paper.

One close Presidential aide said that Zardari was not only playing safe but he had not shown any interest in the agenda set out by Nawaz Sharif and his party colleagues, including his brother Shahbaz Sharif, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Ishaq Dar and others.

"Asif Zardari is not ready to support the single-point agenda of Nawaz Sharif to restore the sacked chief justice and then complete its mission of get-Musharraf. Being the captain of the team, Asif Zardari is not ready to take dictation from his vice-captain Nawaz Sharif," the paper quoted the source as saying.

Another Musharraf's aide reportedly said: "People including Asif Zardari are puzzled that the man who helped attack the Supreme Court is currently pursuing a one-point agenda of restoring the sacked CJ...they are also amazed that Nawaz Sharif has a one-point agenda of getting the sacked chief justice restored and not the independence of judiciary."

According to the paper, the PPP is toeing the line that the party would not gain anything from removing the President and restoring the sacked Chief Justice, as in both cases the net gainer would be the Sharif brothers. These sources base their argument on the fact that no one can give guarantee that after the restoration, the Chief Justice would not take any decision against the PPP government or its leaders.

"No one can give this guarantee and it simply means that the restoration of the chief justice would bring disaster to the PPP and this is the real game plan of Nawaz Sharif and the company," said the source.

Zardari has been carefully analysing the situation with a broader sense and working on the lines of gaining for a longer period of time without caring for the short-term gains, said the paper and added that many PPP leaders apprehend that if the President was removed, Sharif would start a move to bring down the PPP government by using the forum of superior judiciary after getting the sacked chief justice restored.

ANI