suchithkc
KARACHI - Aides to former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf have advised him to delay his return to the country due to political instability, but he has yet to make a final decision, sources close to Musharraf told Reuters on Thursday.
Musharraf addressed a rally via video in Pakistan's biggest city and commercial hub, Karachi, last week and announced his plan to return between January 27 and January 30 and take part in parliamentary elections due to be held by 2013.
The former president, who seized power in a 1999 coup, has been living in Dubai for almost three years and is currently visiting London.
Musharraf resigned and left the country after his allies lost a parliamentary election in 2008 and the new coalition government threatened him with impeachment.
His popularity had plummeted after he became embroiled in a row with the judiciary and briefly imposed a state of emergency in 2007.
"Musharraf's friends, both political and non-political, have advised him to delay his return given the political environment in the country," Haris Nawaz, general secretary for the Sindh province chapter of Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League, told Reuters.
"But he has yet to take a final decision."
Musharraf may announce his decision at a press conference in London on Thursday, according to Pakistani media.
Tension continues to mount against Pakistan's unpopular civilian government which faces pressure from the military over a mysterious memo seeking U.S. help to avert an alleged planned coup last year.
"Musharraf's opponents may take advantage of the turmoil going on now and this might work against him. That's why some have suggested that he has to delay," said a Dubai-based aide of the former president.
Some media reports said Musharraf, who faces the threat of arrest in Pakistan on charges that he failed to provide adequate security to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto before her assassination in 2007, will seek Saudi help in obtaining guarantees that he will not be detained.
No comments:
Post a Comment