Spokesman All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) Fawwad Chaudhry on Friday said Musharraf government never considered option of hanging former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after deposing him in October 1999. He said, "the fate of Nawaz Sharif was not decided based on personal enmity but through the normal legal process whereby the court charged him of the offenses and declared verdict".
The judicial system does not take into account the preferences of individuals but bases its judgement on a set of rules as defined by the law and the Constitution of the country, he added. Commenting on PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif's recent statement in Sindh that Musharraf wanted to hang him, Chaudhry said that the allegations were a only an attempt to malign the character of the former president and earn sympathies of the people of Sindh.
He claimed that Musharraf is a magnanimous man who allowed Nawaz Sharif to leave the country along with his family. The APML spokesman said that a foreign common well-wisher pleaded to Musharraf for extradition of Sharifs, which was subsequently accepted by the government under a treaty.
He said the accusation by Nawaz Sharif about Musharraf fleeing the country while he stayed behind is nothing less than a joke when Nawaz pleaded for a deal with the then government for immunity and extradition. The details of the said deal and agreement are available on the internet, he added. He further said that APML respects the political and democratic rights of all parties, but their leaders should refrain from indulging in character assassination of other political leaders.