Musharraf vows to return to Pakistan but sets no date

MANCHESTER: Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf says he will return to Pakistan before the next general elections but refused to commit a date.
Held in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Manchester’s Oldham area, about 500 attended the rally organised by Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League (APML).
usharraf said he had “delayed” his return to Pakistan set for 30th March this year after his party advised him to do so over the prevailing situation in Pakistan. Musharraf said he cannot set a date of return as “elections in 2013 don’t look certain and feasible” but as soon as a date is announced, he will announce his plan too.
Speaking about his decision to backtrack on the original plan, Musharraf said: “The atmosphere was not right to go back to Pakistan. The pillars of the state were in a state of clash with each other over contentious issues. If I had returned to Pakistan, it could have diverted the attention on me and that would have had negative effects on APML. Therefore, I decided to delay my plan. But we will take part in next elections with full force.”
The enthusiasm and thrill shown by Musharraf’s followers in the last year was nowhere to be seen. Those who turned up at the rally did so half-heartedly; they looked tired and disillusioned with the programme of the former military hard man. Still a sought-after speaker at the international speaking circuit, Musharraf has failed to inspire political workers to back his party and as a result many have left the party and or have gone into hibernation. Squeezed by PML-N, PPP and PTI, many of Musharraf’s key supporters have already left his APML. Musharraf agreed that his supporters left the party for other parties in his absence but vowed that he will continue to work to build his party. He said that 1100 legislators, including MNAs, MPAs, Senators, were not the true representatives of Pakistan and it was important that Pakistan got the right leadership through an open and transparent system, after the current status quo is broken. He said many of today’s lawmakers used to sing his praises when he was in power but had switched sides when the going got tough. “They have no character, no principles,” he said in reference to Chaudhries of Gujarat, as well as the likes of Fawad Chaudhry and others who have joined the ruling parties and PML-N.
Musharraf said the ruling elite had mismanaged every fabric of Pakistani society and as a result there were serious issues of the shortage of electricity, economic chaos, lack of foreign investment, failure in governance and fall in exports. He bemoaned that various institutions were fighting each other and there was no unity of action. “There is a fear that if the right leadership doesn’t take over the country, then Pakistan may be declared a fractured, failed state,” said the self-exiled politician, who faces criminal charges upon return to Pakistan.
Musharraf said that Balochistan problem was being magnified as part of a conspiracy and held that out of 150 Baloch tribes, “only some Mengals, Marris and Bugtis want separation and many of the insurgent leaders are not even with their people”. “We shouldn’t be scared of them because they don’t have following. People like Talal Bugti and other get coverage because PML-N is supporting their aims. Indian spy agencies are also helping them,” charged Musharraf.