Musharraf case verdict to strengthen democracy: PPP.

LAHORE -- The PPP believes that the special court verdict in Gen Musharraf case will help strengthen democracy and give respect to vote.

'Though legal niceties of the special court verdict in Nov 3, 2007, Emergency Plus imposed by former army dictator Gen Musharraf could be explained by law experts, what we as students of political science could say is that the decision will grant respect to vote and further strengthen the democratic project,' Punjab PPP General Secretary Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed said at a press conference here on Tuesday.

Flanked by Aslam Gill, Hassan Murtaza and Malik Usman, he said party's legal team was examining the army chief's extension case verdict for a formal position of the party and taking future line of action on the issue.

'However, what we believe is that the Supreme Court verdict on the army chief's extension highlighted a constitutional issue and wasn't against anyone. And that we don't think that the incumbent government is interested in making law on the army chief's tenure. Had it been sincere with the extension the prime minister won't have issued the notification on a writing-pad of the PM Office.'

He said that after bails of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz, there was no logic to rob Asif Ali Zardari and Feryal Talpur of the right to bail. Saying the recent court verdicts were restoring trust of the masses in the judiciary, he hoped that hearing of cases against Zardari would also be transferred back to Sindh from Islamabad. He said the party absolutely rejected the recent Indian citizenship law.

He said party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari would hold a public meeting at Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi, on Dec 27 to give a message to the world and put the question that why prominent leaders had been murdered in the garrison town.

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