Musharraf won’t come back till the situation improves

ISLAMABAD: While Pervez Musharraf gets the final eagerly-awaited green signal from the federal government to leave for abroad, the grave criminal cases including the high treason charge pending disposal in courts are almost gone as he will never return to Pakistan to face trials unless the situation fundamentally changes in his favour.

The primary reason behind the government’s decision to let Musharraf fly abroad is to keep its relations with the establishment as cozy as they have been for quite some time. It did not want this irritant to snowball into a renewed crisis. The government was no doubt in a catch-22 – whether to allow Musharraf’s foreign travel or ban him to leave Pakistan. It was clear if the government barred his movement out of Pakistan by placing his name on the Exit Control List (ECL), certain circles of the establishment, which have been protecting and saving Musharraf from harsh action, would have become upset. Such an eventuality might have led to marring of the prevailing good relations between the two sides.

As the mufti-khaki ties are satisfactory, this state of affairs has a soothing effect on the overall political scenario. Both the sides have made conscious efforts to create such a situation. Some quarters had vainly tried to whip up a storm over the question of extension of the tenure of Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, but he himself buried it by announcing that he would retire on the due date – November this year. The nefarious plan of some elements was thus nailed. The government is certainly keen to keep the present relations intact and therefore got rid of the “irritant” as it is more enthusiastic to implement its development agenda for the long-term benefits for Pakistan.

However, as the government preferred not to limit the retired general from leaving Pakistan for abroad by not putting his name on the ECL, basing its decision on the Supreme Court order, it is open to stomach a serious loss of face. This decision has further provoked its detractors to hammer and taunt it. Even the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders, who, while being in government for five years, had organised a guard of honour for Musharraf on his departure as the president and had done nothing to arraign him for his alleged crimes, are in the forefront in attacking the present government.

But it is a fact that the Nawaz Sharif administration had lodged the complaint of high treason against Musharraf on the strict orders of the Supreme Court, which, during the implementation proceedings of its earlier judgment, had threatened Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with the contempt charge if he did not obey the ruling without any further delay.

When Musharraf returned to Pakistan in 2013, the government had included his name in the ECL on the order of the apex court, which has since clarified that it was a temporary order while the attorney general argued that his understanding was that it was still valid.

The interior minister repeatedly referred to the striking off the name of Musharraf from the ECL, asserting that it is the power of the government to restrict him or not, he did not apparently attach too much importance to the wordings of the Supreme Court’s short ruling. 

The operative part of the short judgment that it “will not preclude the Federation of Pakistan or the Special Court, seized of the proceedings under Article 6 of the Constitution against” Musharraf, “from passing any legal order for regulating his custody or restricting his movement” absolutely left it to the government to restrict or permit him to go abroad for which he is exceedingly desperate. Therefore, it is not the court direction to let Musharraf go abroad.

This also made it clear that the judicial order was not an impediment in the way of the federal government from putting Musharraf’s name on the ECL. Similarly, the three-member special court, which is trying him on high treason charge, also has the authority to inhibit his movement on its own or on an application of the government. No such plea was filed with it.

The special court, which recently resumed proceedings after a long hiatus because of litigation in superior court, has summoned Musharraf to appear before him on March 31 to face the high treason trial. He has already been indicted and had pleaded not guilty.

Apart from this serious case, entailing death penalty, the former president also faced the allegation of murder of Islamabad Lal Masjid cleric Ghazi Abdul Rashid and the Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court issued his arrest warrants last week once again.

The former general’s eagerness to get rid of the ordeal he is facing in Pakistan, also because of his health problems, was immensely clear from the fact that he instantly packed his bags to fly abroad a few hours after the apex court order.