Ever wondered why Sharifs never asked for Shaukats head?
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=196574
Friday, September 04, 2009
By Rauf Klasra
LONDON: That the Sharif brothers had never really targeted Shaukat Aziz in particular while castigating his boss Musharraf and even blasting away Aziz governments policies which resulted in the creation of a voracious consumer culture while destroying national productivity capacity, had been a puzzle all these years. No more. The News has learnt on good authority that unknown to his military boss and his khaki network, the wily banker turned prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, had constantly remained in touch with the Sharif brothers during their days of Saudi exile.
Diplomatic sources confirmed that Shaukat Aziz, known for his PR and survival skills, had maintained cordial links with the Sharifs and clearly the move has paid rich dividends with him never being in the cross hairs of the Sharifs. A relaxed Aziz is said to be now quietly enjoying his London retirement, watching his former boss facing the wrath of the Sharifs, blissfully aware of the fact that he had been an equal partner in the real and imaginary sins of the disgraced dictator.
A top diplomatic source based in London claimed that Aziz even used to send similar kind of secret messages to Benazir Bhutto during the same period and had based his initiative, and rightly so, on the premise that with either of them staging a comeback and holding the levers of power again, he at least would not be treated as a relevant factor of the Musharraf equation.
One of the PML-N senators closely related to the Sharif family, was said to have been used as the trusted messenger between the Sharif brothers and Aziz, who reportedly kept assuring the Sharif brothers that he had nothing to do with their personal war with his boss and his actions as he was a professional man just doing his duty.
Background information gives an interesting insight into this whole love and hate relationship between the Sharif brothers and Aziz. Nawaz Sharif and Shaukat Aziz came close to each other, when the former became the prime minister of Pakistan in 1997. Shaukat Aziz, who was then leading a team of financial experts in Washington, used to give briefings to the visiting prime ministers of Pakistan on how to improve the falling economy of Pakistan. Aziz known for his massive PR skills thanks to his long banking experience which brought him into personal contact with some powerful clients, who finally helped him to grab the top position in Pakistan also used to give similar kind of presentations to other top guns of Pakistan, including the Khakis. But, later he contacted Nawaz and even visited Pakistan a couple of times in the name of giving him advices to help him improve the economy. Aziz was said to have used his known links in the World Bank, the IMF and Washington to impress upon the visiting prime ministers and got the desired results in the days to come when his investment paid him dividends.
Senator Ishaq Dar had once told this correspondent on record in one of his interviews published in The News in 2003 that during these frequent interactions with Sharif, a smart Shaukat Aziz had even expressed his deep desire to become the governor, State Bank of Pakistan, after Governor Yaqoob and for this purpose, he had been trying to impress then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
But, a lucky Aziz got the chance of a life time when General Musharraf dismissed Nawaz government in a bloodless military coup on October 12, 1999 and after a couple of weeks made him the finance minister and finally the prime minister.
One source claimed that the PML-N was not only playing the role of a friendly opposition in Pakistan, but it was also giving kind of quiet favours to Aziz. The source claimed that Aziz has been spared from attacks like the one being launched on Musharraf simply because he never went public against them during their exile and most importantly, he kept on sending message of allegiance to the Sharif brothers, despite serving with Musharraf. The sources said Aziz had started getting in touch with the Sharif brothers after 2005 as he knew that after two years at the end of his term in office of the prime minister, the political scenario would dramatically change and Sharifs would be calling the shots in Pakistan. His contacts with the Sharif brothers through the PML-N senator became more frequent and he successfully won their confidence.
It is interesting to note that while both Aziz and Musharraf ruled the country together for many years, with both jointly taking decisions which landed Pakistan into huge troubles, with both fleeing the country once their rule ended rather rudely and yet only one is getting the rough end of the stick from the house of Sharifs. The man who actually ran the country and executed the agenda of the the Musharraf regime and brought the country to its knees in the shape of current energy crises, rising poverty, hunger, and most importantly, presided over many multibillion rupees scams, including stock market manipulation, has now been given a clean chit by the Sharif brothers and their party men.
Surprisingly, since the return of the Sharif brothers to Pakistan in 2007, no one ever heard a serious and meaningful demand from the PML-N to also hold Aziz accountable for his acts of omission and commission. Even the recent shocking scam about Aziz quietly taking 735 foreign gifts worth millions of rupees, free of cost, along with him on his last flight to London from Islamabad in January 2008, could not convince the ranks and files of the PML-N to say a single word against him. Sources close to the PML-N say that Aziz had already made it clear that he did not advise the president to impose martial law or emergency. They said there were many persons like Aziz who were part of the Musharraf government.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=196574
Friday, September 04, 2009
By Rauf Klasra
LONDON: That the Sharif brothers had never really targeted Shaukat Aziz in particular while castigating his boss Musharraf and even blasting away Aziz governments policies which resulted in the creation of a voracious consumer culture while destroying national productivity capacity, had been a puzzle all these years. No more. The News has learnt on good authority that unknown to his military boss and his khaki network, the wily banker turned prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, had constantly remained in touch with the Sharif brothers during their days of Saudi exile.
Diplomatic sources confirmed that Shaukat Aziz, known for his PR and survival skills, had maintained cordial links with the Sharifs and clearly the move has paid rich dividends with him never being in the cross hairs of the Sharifs. A relaxed Aziz is said to be now quietly enjoying his London retirement, watching his former boss facing the wrath of the Sharifs, blissfully aware of the fact that he had been an equal partner in the real and imaginary sins of the disgraced dictator.
A top diplomatic source based in London claimed that Aziz even used to send similar kind of secret messages to Benazir Bhutto during the same period and had based his initiative, and rightly so, on the premise that with either of them staging a comeback and holding the levers of power again, he at least would not be treated as a relevant factor of the Musharraf equation.
One of the PML-N senators closely related to the Sharif family, was said to have been used as the trusted messenger between the Sharif brothers and Aziz, who reportedly kept assuring the Sharif brothers that he had nothing to do with their personal war with his boss and his actions as he was a professional man just doing his duty.
Background information gives an interesting insight into this whole love and hate relationship between the Sharif brothers and Aziz. Nawaz Sharif and Shaukat Aziz came close to each other, when the former became the prime minister of Pakistan in 1997. Shaukat Aziz, who was then leading a team of financial experts in Washington, used to give briefings to the visiting prime ministers of Pakistan on how to improve the falling economy of Pakistan. Aziz known for his massive PR skills thanks to his long banking experience which brought him into personal contact with some powerful clients, who finally helped him to grab the top position in Pakistan also used to give similar kind of presentations to other top guns of Pakistan, including the Khakis. But, later he contacted Nawaz and even visited Pakistan a couple of times in the name of giving him advices to help him improve the economy. Aziz was said to have used his known links in the World Bank, the IMF and Washington to impress upon the visiting prime ministers and got the desired results in the days to come when his investment paid him dividends.
Senator Ishaq Dar had once told this correspondent on record in one of his interviews published in The News in 2003 that during these frequent interactions with Sharif, a smart Shaukat Aziz had even expressed his deep desire to become the governor, State Bank of Pakistan, after Governor Yaqoob and for this purpose, he had been trying to impress then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
But, a lucky Aziz got the chance of a life time when General Musharraf dismissed Nawaz government in a bloodless military coup on October 12, 1999 and after a couple of weeks made him the finance minister and finally the prime minister.
One source claimed that the PML-N was not only playing the role of a friendly opposition in Pakistan, but it was also giving kind of quiet favours to Aziz. The source claimed that Aziz has been spared from attacks like the one being launched on Musharraf simply because he never went public against them during their exile and most importantly, he kept on sending message of allegiance to the Sharif brothers, despite serving with Musharraf. The sources said Aziz had started getting in touch with the Sharif brothers after 2005 as he knew that after two years at the end of his term in office of the prime minister, the political scenario would dramatically change and Sharifs would be calling the shots in Pakistan. His contacts with the Sharif brothers through the PML-N senator became more frequent and he successfully won their confidence.
It is interesting to note that while both Aziz and Musharraf ruled the country together for many years, with both jointly taking decisions which landed Pakistan into huge troubles, with both fleeing the country once their rule ended rather rudely and yet only one is getting the rough end of the stick from the house of Sharifs. The man who actually ran the country and executed the agenda of the the Musharraf regime and brought the country to its knees in the shape of current energy crises, rising poverty, hunger, and most importantly, presided over many multibillion rupees scams, including stock market manipulation, has now been given a clean chit by the Sharif brothers and their party men.
Surprisingly, since the return of the Sharif brothers to Pakistan in 2007, no one ever heard a serious and meaningful demand from the PML-N to also hold Aziz accountable for his acts of omission and commission. Even the recent shocking scam about Aziz quietly taking 735 foreign gifts worth millions of rupees, free of cost, along with him on his last flight to London from Islamabad in January 2008, could not convince the ranks and files of the PML-N to say a single word against him. Sources close to the PML-N say that Aziz had already made it clear that he did not advise the president to impose martial law or emergency. They said there were many persons like Aziz who were part of the Musharraf government.
