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| Will Gen Musharraf return to Pakistan ? | | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, May 22: Will former President Gen. Parvez Musharraf return to Pakistan from his self-imposed exile ?This question has assumed significance after Musharraf's recent announcement that he planned to return to Pakistan.
Well he has made it clear that he was not going back to Pakistan simply for rest and relaxation but had plans of contesting the election.In this connection he is said to be trying to float a party.
Judged by the reaction from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) circles Gen. Msharraf's return cannot be an incident free event. He may have to thibnk twice before he decides to fly to Islamabad from London where has spent most of his time after he lost power in 2008 elections.The Federal Minister for water and power,Parvez Ashraf,has said that Musharraf should be extradited because the ruling PPP believes that he(Musharraf) has been instrumental in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on the plea that the President had not provided adequate security cover to the PPP chief. There is demand,in the ruling PPP circles,that legal proceedings be initiated against Gen.Musharraf for his indirect involvement in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Musharraf has denied the charge and has stated that as President of Pakistan he had provided adequate security cover to Benazir.Besides this the PPP leadership is apprehensive of the role Musharraf could play,on his return,because of his continued link with Muslim League (N) chief and former Prime Minister,Nawaz
Sharif.Reports had indicated that even while being in London Musharraf has remained in touch with top leaders of the ML(N) indicating that Nawaz,who is unhappy with the functioning of President Asif Ali Zardari,may prefer joining hands with Gen.Musharraf in destabilising the Zardari led Government.
Another hitch in Msharraf's return to Pakistan is the plan of his detractors to initiate legal action against him for having detained seven judges in 2007 for enabling him to retain power.
Latest reports said that Musharraf had visited the United States where he met prominent Pakistanis and senior functionaries of the American Government. According to these reports, Gen. Msharraf continues to remain by the right side of the policy makers in Washington and it is because of his proximity with the US officials that he has supported Islamabad's campaign against terrorists in north and south Waziristan and the Swat valley. By supporting Zardari led Government's anti-terroist campaign in the tribal areas Musharraf wanted to cultivate the PPP Government and keep Washington in good humour because whatever action Islamabad has taken against the Talibans is the outcome of pressure from the US Government.
In fact the US military and non-military aid to Islamabad has been linked with the quantum of military crackdown on the terrorists.It seems it is too premature for Gen.Parvez Musharraf to return to Pakistan.The atmosphere is still not conducive for him to be back in Pakistan and establish a political party.yes he can return to his home country,where he ruled for nine years,provided he gets full moral and political support from Nawaz Sharif or if the chasm between the PPP and the ML(N) further widens.In such a situation Musharraf,who is known for his political segacity,can exploit events to his advantage.A section of extremists and fundamentalists continue to support him because during his regime he had been quite soft towards them even while ordering cosmetic operations against the terrorists.
Well Gen. Musharraf may be out of polwer but his contribution in saving Pakistan from major political and economic disaster by joining hands with Washington in its campaign against terrorists in Pakistan and Afghanistan cannot be ignored. His pro-US policy had enabled Musharraf to receive military and non-military aid worth several million dollars that saved the Islamic nation from ruin. Hence if he wants to return to politics he can pose serious threat to the PPP and its allies.
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