Islamabad: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that exiled former premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif would have to face court cases if they return home to contest the general elections next year.
Musharraf's remarks came as both Bhutto and Sharif tried to step up pressure on him by pledging to oust the military from politics and fight the next polls together.
Asked if Bhutto and Sharif would be allowed to come back, Musharraf said in an interview to local Pushtoo channel AVT, Khyber that the two had cases against them in the courts which they would have to face.
"One (Nawaz Sharif) had been convicted (and sentenced) to life imprisonment while the other (Benazir Bhutto) had non-bailable warrants issued against her," Musharraf said.
Sharif was convicted for attempting to prevent Musharraf's plane from landing in October 1999 just before the military coup while Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari faced a host of corruption cases, mostly instituted by the Sharif government in 1997, after which she went on a self exile to Dubai.
In an obvious reference to Sharif, Musharraf said there was also an agreement with the Saudi kingdom over his exile.
Sharif was exiled to Jeddah at the instance of Saudi royal family and accommodated for over five years in a palace there, after he was pardoned by Musharraf.
He was recently allowed to move to London where he began taking part in active politics.
This is perhaps for the first time Musharraf spoke about Sharif facing a case.
Unlike Bhutto who is fighting a number of court cases, the deposed Prime Minister had no case going on against him.
Musharraf also spoke about Sharif's brother Shahbaz Sharif, who was sent to exile along with the deposed premier.
Shahbaz made a failed attempt to return to the country in 2004.
He was packed back to Jeddah in the same plane he had arrived.
"Bhutto and Sharif should think about what happened with Shahbaz," Online news agency quoted Musharraf as saying.
About Bhutto, Musharraf said she had gone abroad on her own even before he came to power and there was no bar on her to return, but again she has to face cases.
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Musharraf had dropped clear hints that he planned to get re-elected as President by the existing national and provincial assemblies before they are dissolved next year and fresh elections held.
He lashed out at Bhutto and Musharraf, saying that both of them pursued family rule and asked people to reject personality-oriented politics.
Asking them to make space for new leadership, he said both served the country twice as Prime Ministers, but failed.
"Every party is personality-oriented and unfortunately there is a void in leadership due to lack of democracy within the parties," he said and asked how long the country would have this leadership vacuum with politics hovering
around a few personalities?
It was for the people to fill the void, he said but regretted that there was no democracy within the parties.
"There is a personality-orientation (in parties) where a leader is succeeded by their children, husband, brothers etc. It is not a monarchy," Musharraf said and wanted a leadership to emerge through a democratic process within the parties that involves people at the grassroot level.
He also said the parties of Bhutto and Sharif should realise and bring new leadership.
Musharraf hoped that the elections would create new leadership as people would come to Parliament and decide who would be the new Prime Minister or Chief Minister.
The President said he was working to bring about a sustainable democracy in Pakistan over and above party politics.
He said he wanted to encourage every political party in the country but was opposed to personalities who twice had chance to rule but plundered the national wealth and practiced bad governance.
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