Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is a “cashable product” and the government can use his standing in the world community for all the good reasons, such as securing aid for the country, according to Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, a minister of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). 

But Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif shot back an angry reply to the comment. PML-N is a key component of the new coalition government, and the party wants to boot Musharraf from his dearly held President’s chair.

Mukhtar, also a leading industrialist, further said that Benazir Bhutto had described Musharraf as a “saleable commodity” in order to seek aid for Pakistan from other nations.

“The new government would like to test Musharraf’s worth in pleading Pakistan’s case to seek economic support,” Mukhtar told Aaj TV late on Thursday.

But reactions came from all sides. “Mukhtar’s views on Musharraf were made in his personal capacity. We are totally convinced that Musharraf and Pakistan can’t go together,” explained PML-N leader and Youth Affairs and Culture Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique.

In order to control the damage, government’s media managers contacted several newspapers and asked them not to carry Mukhtar’s comments. But the comments anyway appeared in several newspapers on Friday.
Sharif, who was deposed from the post of prime minister by Musharraf in 1999, has repeatedly asked the military ruler to accept the people’s mandate and step down.

PML-N leaders also wore black arm bands when they were sworn in by Musharraf on Monday, delaying the ceremony by nearly an hour. But despite pressure from the PML-N, the PPP has been proceeding cautiously on the issue of its ties with Musharraf.

Jammu visit

Nawaz Sharif wants to visit Jammu and Kashmir to trace his ancestral roots. Sharif told about his wish to travel to the disputed valley to People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti. PDP is based in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sharif wants to visit Shopian, a town in southern Jammu and Kashmir, from where his ancestors had migrated to Pakistan. Recently, Sharif’s close aides had said that he wanted to go to Srinagar to inaugurate a hospital being built by his friend Dr Fayaz Shawl.