KARACHI, Aug 18: The president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, Sindh chapter, Syed Ghaus Ali Shah, has termed Pervez Musharraf’s decision of leaving the presidency, victory of the people and the democratic forces in the country.

He particularly lauded the role of the deposed chief justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

Mr Shah, who arrived here on August 17 after ending his over seven-year self-imposed exile, was speaking at a press conference at his residence in Clifton.

He said that Mr Musharraf could be tried for treason under Article-6 of the constitution; however, it depended on the collective wisdom of the political parties.

Paying tribute to the courage and statesmanship of the slain PPP leader, Benazir Bhutto, and his party chief Nawaz Sharif, he said that the alliance between the two parties was an attempt to promote a harmonious political culture in the country.

In response to a question, the Sindh PML-N chief, who was accompanied by Sardar Rahim, Salim Zia , Rafique Butt and others, recalled that this country was created with the power of the ballot. Had this fact been honoured, the overall situation of the country at all the fronts would have been quite different, he said.

Mr Shah deplored that the politicians were allowed to work for the betterment of their countrymen; instead they had always been sidelined on frivolous grounds.

He said during our 61 years of existence, as many as four experiments had been carried by army generals after dishonouring the mandate of the people, but not only their experiments failed to deliver but also caused irreparable losses to the country.

The PML-N leader said that there were two important institutions in the country: the Army and Parliament the army’s job was to defend the borders of the country and the parliament’s duty was to strengthen the country through legislation and to work for the welfare of the people.

In reply to a question, he firmly said that whatever had been committed with regard to restoration of the deposed judiciary, the political leadership would stand by it. He said in a democratic setup power lay only with the prime minister.

Mr Shah, who earlier recalled his role in bringing Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif closer that had ultimately led to the signing of the Charter of Democracy, was asked if he was willing to mediate between the deposed chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, and the sitting Chief Justice, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, he said he believed in party discipline and was bound to follow his party’s decision.