11 Mar 2009, PTI
ISLAMABAD: Amidst political turmoil in Pakistan, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday dismissed reports of an army takeover of the troubled country once again.
Sharif, who has urged the masses to defy a government clampdown and join a nationwide protest, said the "chances of army takeover is absolutely nil".
Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani met with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, according to a press release from the premier's office. It gave no details of their discussion. The meeting comes at a time when President Asif Ali Zardari was on a visit to Iran.
In 1999, then army chief General Pervez Musharraf seized power from Sharif in a bloodless coup.
Despite a crackdown on the Pakistan Muslim League- (N) workers and lawyers, a defiant Sharif told a TV channel that his party will go ahead with its long march.
Asked if the deepening political crisis will open the door for the US to intervene, Sharif said: "there is absolutely no need for international intervention and we are capable of restoring order in our house."
Blaming Zardari for the current imbroglio in the country, Sharif said "talks with him possible only after he reinstates the judges as promised earlier."
Earlier, Pakistan Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and discussed the political and security situation in the country.
Kayani called on Gilani at the Prime Minister's House and discussed matters of national importance, state-run APP news agency reported without giving details.
Official sources told private TV news channels that the two leaders had discussed the internal security situation and political issues.
The two leaders met at a time when President Asif Ali Zardari is out of the country to attend a summit of the Economic Cooperation Organisation in Tehran. The government moved to refute media reports that Zardari was going to UAE and might not be present when the opposition march to press for reinstatement of judges sacked during the 2007 emergency takes place.
Defying government orders, Sharif addressed a huge rally in northwestern town Abbottabad.
"Today is a defining moment in Pakistan's history. We can change the destiny of this country. Pakistan stands at a crossroads today and it is your duty to save it," Sharif told the rally.
We want to change this outdated system because it poses a danger to our existence and they want to charge me for sedition," Sharif told the rally of thousands of supporters, who cheered and waved party banners.
"I ask them (the government) can this law stop the flood of people?"
"Allah has put the decision to change the fate of Pakistan in your hands. It is possible in seven days, even three days. These conspirators will run away with their tails between their legs," Sharif said.
Pakistani authorities on Tuesday launched a crackdown on rights activists, lawyers and opposition party activists in Islamabad and Punjab province ahead of a "long march" by the lawyers' movement to pressure the government to reinstate judges sacked during the 2007 emergency by former President Pervez Musharraf.
Hundreds of people have been detained or placed under house arrest by the authorities, who have banned protests and rallies across Punjab and Sindh provinces.
A political meltdown at this time, media reports have warned, could lead to some form of intervention by the country's powerful military, which has often stepped in to seize power when there is a political chaos.
The political confrontation in the country comes even as Islamabad is grappling with a surge in terror attacks and trying to fix an ailing economy which is afloat only, thanks to international donors.
Putting this points across, Sharif declared "I cannot rest when Pakistan is being taken on a disastrous course."
"We cannot compromise when all institutions are being ruined and the system is on the verge of collapse," the former prime minister said.
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