The Central Executive Council (CEC) of Pakistan Muslim League (N) on Saturday passed a resolution at a high-level meeting suggesting that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members should return before September 10, and the exact date and venue where they would land be decided in London next week.
The meeting was presided over by Raja Zafarul Haq attended by all the senior leaders of the party. A delegation of the party would leave for London on Tuesday to chalk out the return plan of Sharif family for whom the apex court on Thursday ruled that they could come back under Article 15 of the Constitution.
The delegation would hold a detailed meeting with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shabaz Sharif in London to finalise their return as to when, how and where they would land.
It is learnt that a majority of the party leaders favoured return of Sharif family before the re-election of the President General Pervez Musharraf to avert it through joint strategy with all the political parties.
The Supreme Court judgement was highly appreciated by the leadership of Nawaz League in the meeting and also hoped for emerging a new democratic and judicial atmosphere in the country after what it termed 'rebirth' of the Supreme Court on July 20 following the reinstatement of Chief Justice, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.
The meeting further decided that party would also take APDM into confidence on the return of the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members. The resolution further said that after the judgement of the Supreme Court on the constitutional petition filed by the Sharif brothers, it was clear that Sharif family did not leave the country under any deal with the government after they were forced to leave the country.
The meeting also regretted that the rulers hindered return of former Prime Minister to the country for more than seven years, who made the country a nuclear power despite the international pressure.
The meeting condemned the remarks of Dr Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, on the verdict of Supreme Court, saying that the minister breached the dignity of the apex court as the judiciary got independence after the sacrifices of lawyers, politicians and civil society organisations.
The meeting also refuted the rumours about the imposition of martial law and emergency in the country, saying that any such extreme action of the government would not be acceptable to the democratic forces and it would be strongly resisted, if anyone resorted to do so in a bid to save his regime.
An unconditional resignation of General Pervez Musharraf is the sole solution to bring the country out of current crisis, the meeting noted. The meeting also reiterated that re-election of General Musharraf would be illogical, undemocratic and extra-constitutional and democratic forces would resist it.