No martial law until three elections after NRO: Shehla Raza
24 July, 2014
KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Shehla Raza claimed on Wednesday that martial law could not be imposed in the country until three general elections were held in the country.
Speaking to a private TV channel, the PPP stalwart said that the agreement was reached under a clause in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), adding that the United States, Britain, UAE as well as then ISI chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani had guaranteed this.
Raza said former president Asif Ali Zardari had also travelled to the US to remind world powers of their past promises.
The PPP has disassociated itself from Raza's statement which the party has declared 'misleading' and 'contrary to facts'.
According to a PPP spokesperson, Raza's stance on the matter did not correspond with the party's approach.
The NRO was promulgated by former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf on October 5, 2007, to provide immediate relief to assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto by giving indemnity in all cases registered against her by the Nawaz Sharif government between 1986 and 1989.
On December 17, 2009, the Supreme Court declared the controversial NRO as never to have existed and against the Constitution by reviving all cases and reversing acquittals of its beneficiaries.
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