‘Third force’: Musharraf vexed about Imran’s rise in politics
By Zia Khan
Published: December 13, 2011
ISLAMABAD:
The rise of Imran Khan and his party Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) as an ‘alternative third force’ in mainstream politics isn’t sitting too well with former president Pervez Musharraf and his All Pakistan Muslim League (APML).
The ex-military strongman fears that the cricketing legend’s ‘dream run’ is diminishing his own chances of riding the crest of public anger against the conventional opposition parties.
Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan between 1999 and 2008, is contemplating offering Imran a ‘working relationship’ for a ‘minimum common agenda’ of defeating two major parties, his spokesperson said.
But, an official of Imran’s PTI said, there was ‘no way in hell’ Imran could have any informal relations or formal alliance with the dictator because he abrogated the constitution and there was ‘no room for him’ in Pakistan politics.
“Frankly, we are concerned about the rise of Imran … informal relations exist between us and of course when Musharraf comes back there can be an attempt at formalising them,” said a spokesperson for the former president and his All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) Fawad Chaudhry.
The spokesperson went on to add that Musharraf, who had earlier announced to make a comeback to Pakistan on March 23 next year, was reconsidering his return plan and might be in the country before March 23.
“He will try to come back earlier for a couple of reasons. Of course, the prime reason being Imran’s unstoppable advance and secondly the uncertainty at the political front,” he said, adding that if there were to be snap elections in Pakistan, the party would be left out if Musharraf wasn’t in the country.
The spokesperson, however, hastened to play down what experts have termed a ‘surprise jump’ in Imran’s popularity, saying that Musharraf’s absence played a major role in the rise of Imran and his party into mainstream politics.
“Imran is flying high because Musharraf is not here … had he been here, things would have been altogether different,” he argued.
Chaudhry refused to elaborate on the dynamics of the ‘informal relations’ between the APML and PTI, but a spokesperson for the PTI said Imran was in no mood of either having Musharraf in his party or accepting an alliance with the dictator’s group.
“There is no way in hell Imran can accept Musharraf … there is no room for him in Pakistan’s politics. Like (President Asif Ali) Zardari and (PML-N chief) Nawaz Sharif, he will have to face the music,” said PTI Islamabad Information Secretary Sulaiman Malik.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2011.
‘Third force’: Musharraf vexed about Imran’s rise in politics – The Express Tribune
