ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan's leading Islamic party on Friday demanded the resignation of military ruler General Pervez Musharraf for releasing ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif from prison.
The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) said it would hold a nationwide day of protests Sunday against Musharraf's surprise decision, which has also drawn scathing criticism from secular circles.
"Pervez Musharraf must resign immediately, while there is still time to do so honorably, in order to restore national sovereignty and the armed forces' honor," JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad said in a statement.
Sharif and his family were hustled out of Pakistan in the early hours of Sunday morning after he received a midnight presidential pardon from lengthy prison terms for hijacking and tax evasion.
Only weeks before, state prosecutors had been seeking his execution for hijacking, a conviction related to events on the night of the October coup last year when Musharraf seized power.
The regime said he would be exiled to Saudi Arabia in the best interests of the nation and for humanitarian reasons, but there is mounting speculation that it had cut a political deal with the powerful Sharif family.
Ahmad said the government had "committed a rape of justice and trampled upon court verdicts."
"This government can go to any extent under external pressures and sell out the country," he said, referring to alleged Saudi pressure on Islamabad.
"They have become a security risk. They are themselves involved in corruption. They cannot give good governance or carry out accountability of corrupt elements."
Ahmad demanded the establishment of an interim government to hold general elections and transfer power to elected representatives.
The outspoken criticism from the major religious party here follows reports that core commanders met late into the night Thursday to hammer out the government's next move.
A government spokesman dismissed rumors that Musharraf was considering a change of political course through the restoration of the suspended parliaments.
Mixed messages from top officials on the government's plans have added grist to the rumor mill, but spokesman Major General Rashid Qureshi said Friday there would be no change of course.
"This is all speculation and part of disinformation against the government," he said.
"The government will complete its agenda and general elections will be held in the time given to us by the Supreme Court," or before October 12, 2002.
Qureshi said Musharraf was planning to make a national address on Sunday.
