ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesdayaccused a former intelligence chief of asking him to resign duringopposition protests in 2014, comments likely to further fray tensecivil-military relations ahead of general elections.Sharif’s allegations,made in court documents before the three-time premier read them to a newsconference, were a rare explicit accusation by the veteran leader ofpolitical meddling by the military.
In other thinly-veiled remarks aimed at the military, Sharif, who wasousted by the Supreme Court in July, also suggested he was removed fromoffice over his foreign policy stance and refusal to drop a treason caseagainst former army dictator Pervez Musharraf.
Sharif said the 2014 protests organized by opposition figure Imran Khan,which paralyzed capital Islamabad for several months, were designed to sendhim a message that no good would come from pursuing the Musharraf case.
“Those days, a message was sent to me from the chief of an intelligenceagency that I should resign, and if that is not possible, I should go on along leave,” Sharif said, without identifying either.
“The demand for my resignation or going on long leave was based on thisimpression that if Nawaz Sharif was removed from the way it wouldn’t bedifficult to wrap up the case against Musharraf.”
Pakistan has a host of intelligence agencies but in the past themilitary-run Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency has most oftenbeen accused of election meddling.
The military, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment,has denied it is behind any political interference in the run-up to thegeneral elections expected in July.
In March, the army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, told a group ofjournalists the military was a neutral institution and was only concernedwith protecting other institutions, according to media leaks of Bajwa’scomments.
Sharif, the founder of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)party, was removed by the Supreme Court over a small source of undeclaredincome, and later deemed ineligible to head any political party, but has defacto control of PML-N.
He also faces a jail term of up to 14 years in a corruption trial that hecalls a “witch hunt” and politically motivated.
Sharif’s confrontational approach has cleaved sharp divisions within PML-N,which has been weakened over the past year, and where many lawmakers wouldprefer a more conciliatory approach with the military.
On Wednesday, Sharif also suggested he was removed from office because ofhis foreign policy stance. His government had clashed with the militaryover control of key issues, especially ties with arch-foe India, the UnitedStates and Afghanistan.