LAHORE, Aug 31: Millat Party President Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari says propriety demands that former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif should quit politics in view of the serious crime they had committed against the state and the people.

In an interview with Dawn at his party secretariat on Saturday, he said in a civilized country no leader would have stayed in the field, nor the electorate tolerated them, had they faced the kind of charges the two erstwhile adversaries did.

He said in many countries ministers and politicians quietly left their jobs when they were accused of impropriety. But it was regrettable that in Pakistan “thieves and dacoits are trying to play hero and heroine”. He underlined the need for changing the culture of the country to throw corrupt leaders out of politics.

Millat Party leaders Brig (retd) Muhammad Yousaf and Mian Ehsanul Haq were also present.

Leghari believed that the PPP and the PML-N would neither boycott the elections nor launch any kind of agitation after the polls.

“Had they been planning agitation, they would have held some trial runs by now, which they have not done. They don’t have the capability to do so.”

Leghari, who worked with both the prime ministers who are now sitting abroad, said top leaders of the PPP and the PML-N knew it well that because of the criminal cases pending against them they would not be allowed to contest the polls. It was for this reason that the PPP leaders had launched People’s Party Parliamentarians and the PML-N had elected a new president.

Asked would it not be fair to expect of the military regime to allow the two former prime ministers to return to the country and take part in the elections so that the division of the anti- and pro-Musharraf supporters could crystallise, the Millat Party chief said this was no issue at all.

“Pakistan”, he said, “neither belongs to Mian Nawaz Sharif nor Ms Benazir Bhutto. It belongs to the people, and the real issue is to restore democracy and maintain the rule of law”.

Leaders who had committed crime against the state and the people would have to face courts, Leghari said.

According to him, it was wrong to assume that Mian Nawaz Sharif and his family had been forcibly sent abroad. The deposed prime minister could not withstand imprisonment and he opted self-exile, with a friendly country guaranteeing adherence to the agreement reached for the purpose.

As for Ms Bhutto, he said, there was no ban on her return to the country. But, he said, since she had been convicted by courts, she would have to face cases.

Disagreeing with the proposal for the establishment of an interim government of national complexion — which many opposition parties think is indispensable to ensure free and fair elections — Leghari said with the elections so close it was too late for the military rulers to go for such a step.

He said since Gen Musharraf had no personal interest attached with the outcome of the elections, and same was the case with his cabinet ministers, the general elections would be free and fair.

About repeated allegations by various parties that the government was involved in pre-poll rigging, Leghari, who is a central leader of the National Alliance, said they were perhaps based on the experience of the local elections when senior bureaucrats had used their influence to make the councillors to change their loyalties.

Leghari said at his meeting with President Musharraf he had invited his attention to the overenthusiastic bureaucrats who might create a negative impression about the fairness of the polls by their activities.

He said he had told Gen Musharraf that it would be very dangerous if some parties got an opportunity to allege rigging in elections because of the activities of senior officials.

The National Alliance was very clear on the issue that rigging, before the elections or on the election day, would make the polls worthless, results of which would never be good for the country.

Leghari said at his meetings with Gen Musharraf and the European Union mission, which is in Pakistan to monitor the polls, he had explained the possible methods unscrupulous elements could resort to. He said old ID cards could easily be duplicated and triplicated to cast bogus votes. Some PML-N and PML-Q leaders, he alleged, had machines which could do the job.

To obviate this possibility, he said, only computerized tamper-free ID cards should be allowed for the voter to prove his identity.

Similarly, he said, indelible ink used by the Election Commission was not effective enough and those wanting to use multiple vote greased their thumbs before being marked. The ink on such a thumb could easily be removed and the man could vote again and again.

He said the presiding officers should be duty-bound not only to sign but also mark their thumb impression on the result sheets.

Leghari said in view of the situation on the Eastern and Western borders it would not be possible for the government to deploy the army on polling stations. The duty could not also be assigned exclusively to the police as parties might raise finger of suspicion at them. In such a situation, he said, the government should deploy the Rangers, the Frontier Constabulary and other paramilitary forces at the polling stations. Answering a question about the possible performance of the National Alliance in the general elections, Leghari said: “It will emerge as an important player both at the national level and in provinces. The National Alliance and the Millat Party should do extremely well”.

As for the Grand National Alliance, the combination of the National Alliance and the PML-QA, Mr Leghari said it would emerge as a still bigger player at the national level.

He saw no harm in the Millat Party entering into cooperation with the PML-QA, the party which has been holding the PPP — of which Mr Leghari has been chief organizer and the secretary-general before being elected as president of Pakistan — responsible for the dismemberment of the country and making allegations against him.

“Adjustments can be made irrespective of the ideology. You can make adjustments even with your opponents”.

He said Mian Azhar and Chaudhry Shujaat Husain had never levelled any allegations against him. It was Syed Mushahid Hussein who as a spokesman of Mian Nawaz Sharif had made various accusations and the very same person subsequently defended him, the Millat Party chief recalled.

Asked whether his party supported the demand that President Musharraf should have himself elected in a manner laid down in the Constitution and the Legal Framework Order issued by him should be put before future parliament for approval, Leghari said the Millat Party would take a position on the two subjects keeping in view the objective situation. So far, he said, it was not clear how Gen Musharraf would incorporate his referendum and the LFO in the Constitution. Once he did, the Millat Party would come up with its point of view.

However, he said, since the country was passing through a very serious situation, his party would not like to do anything which could “rock our boat”.

The party, he said, would try to get the country back to the constitutional path and would not take any step which could obstruct journey to a democratic order.

Leghari defended the assent he had given as president of the country for the repeal of the 8th constitutional amendment as a result of which the president’s power to dissolve the assembly had been taken away, and now his support for the restoration of the same power to the president through the Legal Framework Order.

He said as president of the country he had signed the amendment to meet a constitutional obligation and to honour his commitment against the “lethal” power.

But, he said, he was now supporting this power of the president in view of the havoc former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had played with the democratic system.

Leghari alleged that after the repeal of the 8th amendment, Mr Sharif had become fascist as a result of which the military takeover became unavoidable.

The Millat Party chief said that though ostensibly the president did not need the power, the experience showed that the military did not intervene as long as the president was armed with the power to sack the parliament and the cabinet.

Answering a question, he said he was supporting the establishment of the National Security Council in view of its utility in a democratic system. He recalled that as president of the country he had set up the Council for Defence and National Security (CDNS) which had identical functions, though a different composition.

He said Mian Nawaz Sharif, as prime minister, did not call a meeting of the CDNS, although he also did not disband it. Therefore, he said, there was no contradiction in his support to the NSC.

Answering a question, Leghari alleged that $50 billion had been siphoned abroad during the past 20 years and his party was determined to bring them back, if voted to power. Also, he said, the Millat Party and the National Alliance were committed to launching a ruthless accountability process.