And after having the letter faxed over to the prime minister’s house on Thursday, the PML-N leader, who, along with his party is under fire for their ambivalent stand on terrorism, flew out of the country without making public a date of return.
The incident does not offer much reassurance to those hoping for more commitment from the country’s second largest party.
Mr Sharif, who left for London to be with his ailing wife, has advised the premier to take a number of steps to make the proposed conference constructive.
Among other things, the PML-N leader has assured the prime minister of his party’s support in eradicating militancy from the country.
He has proposed that all stakeholders be asked to do their homework and offer their policy suggestions before the conference is called; he has also suggested that a plan of action be evolved beforehand; and has warned that the occasion not be used for point-scoring by any political party as the survival of the country is at stake.
Dawn has also learnt that Mr Sharif has told the prime minister that carrying out an exercise of formulating a policy which would not be implemented should be avoided.
The proposal to hold a national conference to formulate a policy on national security was mooted by Mr Sharif in a news conference at Lahore last week.
The suggestion was readily accepted by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who promised to hold it as soon as possible.
Such was the enthusiasm of the two leaders just seven days ago that reports claimed Nawaz Sharif had postponed his London visit to participate in the proposed conference.
Now, however, it seems that he has lost the enthusiasm, regarding the matter as not deserving of the urgency shown by him earlier. Members of his party tried to play down the significance of Mr Sharif departure for London, saying he had to rush out of the country due to an emergency.
Oddly enough, there is no clear-cut date for either the proposed conference or for Mr Sharif’s return from London.
When Dawn spoke to Ahsan Iqbal, a PML-N leader, he said that while the return date had not been decided, he could and would rush back if a date for the conference was set. At the same time, Mr Iqbal added that if Prime Minister Gilani was to pay heed to Mr Sharif’s advice on seeking the opinion of stakeholders, the exercise in itself would take “ten to twelve days” and by that time, Sharif should be back.
A CRUEL JOKE Talking to journalists at Lahore airport before leaving for London, Mr Sharif termed a cruel joke the letter written by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to the Supreme Court.
“Some measures of the government are jeopardising democracy and what is currently going on in the country is a mockery of national institutions and judiciary,” he said.
He said some individuals were trying to make courts controversial and his party would not support what he termed a defamation drive.
The letter reportedly questions the jurisdiction of the apex court bench hearing the case of appointment of NAB chief and accuses judges on it of meddling in the NAB probe and being biased.
Mr Nawaz said the contents of the letter written by the NAB were unheard of in democratic societies, adding that the move to make courts controversial could not be supported.
He said it was altogether a different matter if everything was to be covered up and if it was the other way round, then the courts needed to be strengthened.
Reiterating that he would no more play the role of a silent spectator over the situation, the former prime minister urged all forces to side with the judiciary.
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