Islamabad: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has blamed President Pervez Musharraf for Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and announced his PML-N party would boycott the general elections on January 8.
"Under Musharraf's rule, chaos and unrest will not end, peace cannot be achieved and Pakistan cannot remain united," he said. "There is no doubt that Musharraf is the root cause of all problems.
"In these circumstances, the PML-N has decided after Mohtarma Bhutto's cruel assassination to boycott the polls. We made this decision at a time when independent surveys by international bodies are suggesting that the PML-N is in a position to win the elections," Sharif said.
"Several surveys have shown that we are in a position to win the polls and we have taken this decision (to boycott the elections) from a position of strength and not of weakness. It is a decision for the good of Pakistan," Sharif told a news conference.
Sharif, who was deposed by Musharraf in a coup in 1999, said the time had come to act "to save Pakistan" and to heal the wounds afflicting the country.
The PML-N chief's decision came hours after his rival Bhutto succumbed to bullet wounds she sustained in an attack by a suicide bomber who shot her and then blew himself up near the venue of her election meeting in Rawalpindi.
Sharif said after three days of mourning, he would chalk out a strategy to challenge Musharraf's rule but he rebutted suggestions that he could gain political capital from her demise.
"I think nobody stands to gain and nobody should be looking for any gains," he told the British Broadcasting Corp. "It's a very serious situation for the country today."
"Benazir Bhutto was also my sister, and I will be with you to take the revenge for her death," he said afterward, his eyes at times welling up with tears. "Don't feel alone. I am with you. We will take the revenge on the rulers."
Earlier, while speaking at the hospital in Rawalpindi where Benazir was declared dead, Sharif alleged: Musharraf “spent crores on his own security—could he not spend some amount on the security of Bhutto."
"Are things in control now? Had things been in control, would this have happened? I also feel unprotected and the lady must also have been feeling very unprotected,” he said after visiting the Rawalpindi General Hospital
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