Politics
 
Musharraf’s return: method to madness
Visits 757
Visits 757
Visits 757
    
January 27, 2012
Former President General Pervez Musharraf had announced in the first week of this month that he was returning to the country between January 27 and 30. The former military ruler is confidant of returning to the country and positively impacting the messy political and economic situation back home.

The former military strong man plans to return to a country where he faces multiple risks ranging from arrests, prosecutions and even potential threats to his life. The majority of the political players in the national scene dismisses him as a politician or having any space in the national politics, but the ex-president is confidant to be welcomed in the country, eying a savior’s role for him.

In an interview with Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, Musharraf gave the rationale for his planned return from self-imposed exile as, “is where I belong… A stage comes when you have seen so much in life and God has been kind and you know there are things more important than oneself.”

“In Pakistan, there is, vacuum… of trustworthy leaders, which is being filled by others. To exploit this vacuum, I have to be back now.”

There are remote chances that the former military ruler would provide a trustworthy leadership or filled the ‘vacuum‘, but it is sure that he will contest the upcoming general elections. Announcing his plan to return to Pakistan during a video address to a rally of his party in Karachi, he declared that he would contest the upcoming election from Chitral, a mountainous district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

Political commentators’ opinion is divided whether Musharraf’s return is certain or not as per the announced plan, but they are unanimous that the former General could contest elections even if he did not return to Pakistan. They opined that if he was arrested upon arrival (as Sindh home minister had announced that he would go straight to Landhi jail upon landing in Karachi), still he can and would contest election.

Why General Musharraf choose Chitral to contest election is being debated nowadays. Khalid Pervez, convenor of General Musharraf-led All Pakistan Muslim League in Chitral, who is also the son of sitting PML-Q MNA prince Mohiuddin, says that Musharraf during his tenure had carried out record development projects in the mountainous district that endeared him to the people.

He said that the former president had carried out development project worth Rs34 billion in the district including the crucial project of Lowari Tunnel. He said that it was the desire of the people of the district that he should contest elections from Chitral and they wanted to reward him for the services to the area by sending him to represent the people in the National Assembly. “Some one-and-a-half-year ago, around three thousands notables of the area during a convention requested the former president through a resolution to contest election from Chitral,” he said, adding that the decision to invite Musharraf to contest election from Chitral was not APML’s or his personal one, rather it was the people of the area who invited him to contest election.

Though there are soft corner for the former president in this part of the country, the political forces of the district were averse to his announcement to contest poll from Chitral. Almost all the political parties of the district have indicated their opposition to Musharraf’s plan on one or the other pretext.

Columnist and political analysts from the area, Dr Inayatullah Faizi sees the former military ruler prospect in the upcoming election from the area as bright for three reasons. “There are three major reasons as to why Musharraf enjoy an edge over his opponents as far as election from this part of the country is concerned. Musharraf executed major development projects in the district including the important Lowari project. There is a 30 percent strong Ismaili community who perceived the former military ruler as liberal, and supports him like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The third and most important factor that would go in favour of Musharraf is that the incumbent PPP government miserably failed to deliver as far as problems of the masses are concerned,” he added.

Dr Faizi said that the intra-party differences and groupings in major political parties like PML-N, PML-Q and PPP would also benefit Musharraf. However, he pointed towards another possible scenario that would create troubles for Musharraf. “If the alliance of religious parties, Muttahida Majlis-e-Ammal, was renewed, then it candidates are sure to win election from Chitral.

However, Khalid Pervez points toward what he says hippocratic attitude of religious parties, who supported the military ruler when he was in power and passed the 17th Amendment that helped him to cement his hold on power. He came down hard, especially on the Jamat-e-Islami, saying that they gave the title of Muhsi-e-Chitral to the former president during a rally in Chitral for his services to people of the district, but now they are opposing the same ‘Mohsin’.

Talking to this correspondent, former member National Assembly from Chitral Moulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali strongly reacted, saying Shehazada Muhiuddin, the incumbent member of National Assembly from Chitral, who has invited the former president to contest polls from Chitral on people’s will, must not play games, and realize that going for a win in the next polls is a wild goose chase for him.

But former MNA from Chitral and JI leader Mualana Akbar Chitrali said that the man who resorted to the genocide of innocent children at Jamia Hafsa and Red Mosque did not deserve to represent the people of Chitral. He said that Musharraf was primarily responsible for the mess we were in at present. It is his flawed and short-sighted policies that had brought the country to the brink of destruction.

Terming the former president an Israeli and US agent, Moulana Chitrali said that people of the area have a lot of political awareness and the days of slaveries have gone. Now people have the wisdom to decide for whom they should vote. He criticized Prince Muhiuddin for inviting and welcoming Gen Musharraf to contest election from Chitral.

Meanwhile, renowned lawyer and district president of Pakistan People’s Party-Sherparo, Abdul Wali Kahn told Pulse that legally and politically, General Musharraf had every right to contest lection from anywhere in Pakistan. “I am no body to restrain him from contesting election from here. It is the people of the area who have the basic right to choose who should represent them,” he opined. “The people of Chitral are politically mature, aware and have great political intellect and I hope they would make no mistake as far as choosing their representative is concerned, so the decision should be left to them,” he added. Regarding PPP-S stance, he said that he would follow party decision whatsoever it be.

Until now, the PPP has been the only party which fielded candidates from outside the district to contest from the district. It fielded Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Piyar Ali Allana in elections from the district in the past.

Nusrat Bhutto won the National Assembly seat from Chitral in the 1988 general election against veteran Chitrali politician Shahzada Mohiuddin, as the PPP has solid vote bank in the valley owing to development work undertaken in the district by the party’s founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

However, the party’s candidate in 1990’s general election, Piyar Ali Allana, faced defeat from the valley.

When PPP veteran and former district president Zainul Abideen was contacted for comments, he said “definitely PPP would oppose the former military ruler and contest elections against him”. “The PPP is the only organized party and had worked for the welfare of the people of the distric,” he added. He said he respected Musharraf for restarting Lowari Tunnel project, but the credit goes to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who conceived the idea and started work on the project. He was opposed to the idea of inviting someone from outside the district to contest election and represent the people.

Prominent politician and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Wing Cdr (retd) Fardad Ali Shah said it would have been more appropriate had Musharraf contested elections from his own constituency instead of choosing Chitral.


  • Cartoon
  • Horoscope
Generic Cytotec. Order misprostol online. Cheap, without prescription. Purchase Cytotec Online. USA, Canada. Cytotec 100mcg pills delivery.
Buy Cytotec
The toughest part of "having it made" is being able to step back and allow things to happen naturally without feeling like you have to get involved in each little detail... And allowing others to shine brightly in their own right.. This week, it's all about giving others the space they need to prosper & grow on their own... Your main goal is to make it clear to others that you want them to succeed just as much as you want to yourself... This ener