Launching a scathing attack on President Asif Ali Zardari, former premier Nawaz Sharif has said that the functioning of the Pakistan People's Party-led government is making Pakistan look like a "failed state".
"Pakistan presents the picture of a failed and ungovernable state due to the absence of the government's writ and the country urgently needs a new roadmap to pull it out of the problems it is currently facing," Sharif said in an interview to Geo News Channel.
Though the PPP-led government had been in power for ten months, there was little hope of any improvement in the affairs of the state, he said, adding it was up to the nation to decide whether to make Pakistan a failed state or a successful state.
Sharif, the opposition PML-N chief and ex-ally of PPP-led coalition, also slammed former President Pervez Musharraf, saying the dictatorial rule of former military strongman had made the country ungovernable.
"Since 1977, the army has ruled the country for more than 20 years... A state subjected to frequent military intervention in politics can only become ungovernable."
{{/usCountry}}"Since 1977, the army has ruled the country for more than 20 years... A state subjected to frequent military intervention in politics can only become ungovernable."
{{/usCountry}}Sharif also criticised what he described as the government's "clarifications" regarding the purported violation of Pakistani airspace by Indian fighter jets.
Noting that Pakistan was getting isolated in the international community, Sharif said there is a need to find the root causes of terrorism. He condemned Zardari's reported statement that US drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas would continue.
The government should make it clear to the US that such attacks went against the country's integrity and would not be tolerated, he added.