ISLAMABAD: Lashing out at critics of Gen (r) Raheel Sharif’s appointment as head of the multinational Saudi-led military alliance, Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair defended the move, terming it Raheel Sharif’s ‘prerogative’ as a ‘normal person’.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Leaders in Islamabad summit in the federal capital, Zubair said, “His [Sharif’s] job as chief of the Saudi-led alliance is also being seen as something extraordinary – when it should be his prerogative as a normal person.” “He is a normal general like other generals and it’s his right to acquire the piece of land he was given … Let’s be fair with him – let’s not make him larger than life. That will only create more problems for him,” he cautioned.
The appointment of Raheel Sharif as the leader of the Saudi-led military alliance has sparked debate over how the move will impact Pakistan’s foreign policy and whether it was fully sanctioned by parliament.
When questioned about the awaited Panamagate verdict, Zubair observed ‘the longer we wait, the poorer it will be for our economy’. “The anticipation over Panamagate verdict has had an adverse impact on our stock market. It’s not just the stock market, even foreign investors have put their investment plans on hold due to the impending verdict. So the sooner we hear the verdict, the better it will be for our country.”
Zubair went on to say that ‘100 per cent of the credit for Karachi’s operation goes to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’.
Recalling that although all stakeholders had been existing for years, Zubair claimed that the catalyst that made the Karachi operation possible ‘was Nawaz Sharif coming into office in June 2013’. “That was the difference.”
The governor believed that ‘until the tougher political compromises were made by the premier, peace seemed unattainable’.
Zubair also cited the government’s crackdown on Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain as an example of its tough stance on crime in Karachi. “[Interior Minister] Chaudhry Nisar took out a red warrant against Altaf Hussain.
