Musharraf open to any coalition partners

Tribune

LONDON: Former president Pervez Musharraf said on Sunday that he was open to any coalition partners who wanted to join him, and described Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) as “a good party” with whom he had no differences of opinion.

Musharraf who is planning to return to contest elections due by 2013 was speaking at his London home during an interview with Reuters.

Musharraf declined to fix a date for a return to Pakistan, which he left after stepping down as president in 2008. But he said he aimed to establish offices for his new political party in all the country’s provinces by March.

He launched his All Pakistan Muslim League in London in October. The former military ruler, who could be risking assassination or legal cases if he went home, said he would build up support for his party first. “Obviously I wouldn’t be able to pack a suitcase and buy a ticket and reach Islamabad.”

“Therefore, while I have decided that I must be there well before the next elections, whether they are mid-term or end-term, the exact date will have to be according to the environment we are able to create.”

He said many people had met him or talked over the phone, and that “anyone who wants to join into a coalition is welcome”.

Political analysts say he faces an uphill struggle to win enough support, and would need coalition partners from the fragmented opposition to have any chance of success.

Among possible candidates could be smaller parties with whom Musharraf has worked in the past, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), whose leader Altaf Hussain lives in exile in London, and the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q).

Musharraf declined to name likely coalition partners, saying he aimed to create a national party. But he said of the MQM: “They are a good party and I have no differences with them.” He said he had met with MQM leaders, including Hussain, while many PML-Q politicians were in contact with him.

Asked if he expected support from the army, he said that the military were not supposed to become involved in politics. “However, having said that, I have been in this army for over 40 years … the troops and the whole army knows me … I can never even imagine that this army which I have served for 40 years will be against me.

“I am very sure they will be supportive, but if you are meaning active support against other political parties, no, I am not expecting that; it would undermine the whole process.”

‘Prevent blasphemy law misuse’

Musharraf said, rather than amend the laws, Pakistan needed to find ways to make sure they were not misused. He also condemned the killing of Salmaan Taseer and said it was wrong for anyone to take the law into his own hands.

“Therefore the killer of the governor, he is a culprit, he is a criminal, he must be tried and he must be punished,” he said.

He said blasphemy was an extremely sensitive issue for the people of Pakistan. “Therefore doing away with the blasphemy law is not at all possible and must not be done,” he told Reuters.

Kashmir roadmap

Musharraf, who has been criticised by Washington for failing to crack down harder on the Taliban when he was in power, said the West had missed a tremendous opportunity to reach a political settlement in Afghanistan in 2002-2004.

But he said there was “some sense” now in talking to the different parts of the Taliban movement, including its leaders. “Any one of them who is for peace, giving up confrontation, I think we should deal with them.” But this was not going to be easy since “we are speaking from a position of weakness”.

He also said he believed a road map for peace in Kashmir that he agreed with India in 2007 could be revived. “We were in the process of drafting an agreement, obviously there were differences on the wording and the expressions …” He said it was hard to tell if they were within six months of a deal, “but we were making fast progress, that I know”.

However, he also accused India of using its presence in Afghanistan to destabilise Pakistan. Pakistan accuses India of supporting separatists in its Balochistan province, while India accuses Pakistan of backing militant attacks on Indian targets in Kashmir and elsewhere. He said the two countries’ intelligence agencies had been in confrontation since independence in 1947.

“This tit-for-tat has been going on over the last 60 years,” he said. “I think India and Pakistan need to sit down and stop this confrontation.”

Ready to return for early elections: Musharraf

Musharraf said his party was ready to contest the next elections.

Tribune

DUBAI: Former President Pervez Musharraf on Monday said his newly formed party was prepared for possible early elections as the government in Islamabad scrambles to save its ruling coalition.

Musharraf, who launched the All Pakistan Muslim League APML in October, said he will return to Pakistan “before the next election”.

“We are ready to contest elections,” Musharraf told reporters at his apartment in Dubai.

“A little more time would be useful, as we are a new party. However, we will definitely try if the elections come early.”

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s government lost its parliamentary majority on Sunday when the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) announced it would sit on opposition benches over fuel price policies.

The opposition has not yet sought a no-confidence vote against Gilani in parliament but analysts say that is the biggest worry for the government.  The next election is not due until 2013.

“For the government to survive, the PML-N or the PML-Q (parties outside the coalition) have to support them. Such support will have a lot of consequences,” Musharraf added.

Musharraf said: “I must return (to Pakistan) well before the next elections, whenever that may be. I strongly believe the real momentum for my party will start once I reach Pakistan. So we are trying to create an environment for me to reach there.”

Musharraf claimed he did not rule out alliances with other political parties in the future.

“Many parties want to be with us. But I want my party to get a simple majority in the next elections so that we do not have to rely on others.” He said he had made “mistakes”, including actions against The judiciary and imposing a state of emergency, but dismissed the possibility of another military takeover, saying he wanted to come to power with “the mandate of the public”.

Army 'May Intervene Over Pakistan's Decline' : APML Founder Musharraf

Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf has warned the army may have to intervene again in politics, if the country continues to decline.

He added Pakistan may be forced to take matters into their own hands - which could include working with the Taliban - if it continues to feel alienated by the rest of the world.

Mr Musharraf was speaking exclusively to Sky News from his new home in the United Arab Emirates, where he is in self-imposed exile.

"There is no bar against me going back to Pakistan. But the conditions have to be right," he said.

The former general is building his own political party with the intention of returning to Pakistan to take on the current government in a bid for power.

Pakistan has to be protected. If you don't help, if no-one helps... then Pakistan has to take its own measures.

Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf

It would be an astonishing turnaround for a man who resigned more than two years ago before almost certainly being impeached.

Mr Musharraf spoke extensively in a wide-ranging interview which covered his return to politics, his regret at the circumstances surrounding his resignation and the future.

He was most concerned over the threat he sees coming from the developing relationship between America, India and Afghanistan.

"They are creating an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan and America has to realise that," he said.

Mr Musharraf talking to Sky

"What should Pakistan do? What should ISI (the Pakistan intelligence agency) do? What does the Army chief do? They'll make a strategy of protecting themselves."

I asked whether that would mean working with the Taliban.

He replied: "No comment, no comment.

"We must understand, the protection of Pakistan is everything as far as I’m concerned.

"If someone is disturbing that I will go to any extent to protect Pakistan, because that's what I'm meant for. So you can see the answer yourself."

He issued this warning to the West: "Pakistan has to be protected. If you don't help, if no-one helps and instead is helping the other side, the side which is trying to disturb and destabilise us, well, then Pakistan has to take its own measures."

Musharraf's time as President earned him many opponents.

Pakistan, he said, is in a terrible state - with its economy in crisis, high unemployment, mass discontent - and this as well as having terrorists on its soil.

Mr Musharraf said his return and his attempt to become an elected politician would this time "give me the legitimacy which maybe last time I didn't have because, in the eyes of the world, I was a dictator."

The man who first took power in a bloodless coup also said the army may still have to play a role in determining the future leadership.

"You have to remember, in Pakistan the armed forces play a very big and important role," he said.

"It is strong and well-administered and wherever there is turmoil, the people run to the army.

"I have always been of the opinion the army should have a role in the constitution, so it can voice its opinion and influence what happens in the country.

"The whole world thinks that is politicising the army. It isn't."

But he went onto say the army chief always had the quandary of upholding national security, ensuring the survival of the state as well as balancing that against upholding democracy.

"Is democracy more important than the state?" he asked.

"This is the question that arises. And the army is in between. The Army is the saviour. The Army can save the state. It cannot save democracy."

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