Adil Najam
Not totally unexpectedly, Gen. Pervez Musharraf has announced that he will return to active politics, that he will contest in the next elections whenever they are held, and that he will form a new political party. How do you react to this news? Is it great, good, irrelevant, bad, or terrible news? Cast your vote in our ATP Poll here and then, please, tell us why.
As you think about this, you may also like to revisit our August 2008 ATP Poll done right at the time of his departure, where we had asked what lay in Pakistan’s future after his departure: 30% said “everything will become much much worse” while another 30% said that “everything won’t become perfect, but things will improve.” Clearly a split decision.
We did a similar ATP Poll in October 2008 asking how people thought Pakistan had fared in the first two months without him: 31% said “everything became much much worse,” 24% said “only the faces changed, things are what they always were,” and 22% said “Everything hasn’t become perfect, but things have improved.”
Details of the news is still trickling in, but here are the essentials as reported in The Express Tribune:
Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has unveiled his plans to return to active politics, saying that he will contest the next general election in Pakistan.
Musharraf made the announced at a gathering of his supporters in Islamabad by teleconference. “I have decided to take part in Pakistan’s politics and I will contest the next elections, irrespective of whether they are mid-term or ends term elections,†he said in his brief address. A number of cases have been filed against Musharraf since the Supreme Court (SC) declared that the emergency imposed by him in 2007 was unconstitutional and illegal.
Musharraf said that he has received a lot of support from Pakistanis living abroad. “The Pakistanis I have met abroad have told me I should return to Pakistan,†he said. He remained secretive about his future plans saying that he would present his vision for Pakistan’s progress and the direction the country should take at a suitable time. “If you are with me, I will not let you down,†he added.
Musharraf asked his supporters to attend the Pasdare- Pakistan gathering on May 8 at the Islamabad Press Club. “Sitting on the sidelines of history never changed anything, become a part of positive change in Pakistan,†he added. Musharraf’s supporters have also launched a move to register a new party, The All Pakistan Muslim League.
http://www.ummatpublication.com/2010/05/08/idr3.ht ml
Mushraff is the best and probably the only choice. The nation has already suffered too much in the hands of thieves and thugs from PMLN and PPP. The country prospered during Musharaff regime. Long live Musharaff.
A Powerful Slap on the psuedo Shameless retarted System which yesterday Hassan Nisar rightly said in his column the ‘ Nautanki ‘ and ‘Rung-Baazi’ of Democracy… where Sharifs , Bhuttos and Walis Dynasty will rule the 170 million, where Bilawal , Hamza and Moonas will be our rulers..where Mutton is 490 Rs/kg and sugar is Rs.75/kg and few pulses are around 180/kg…when even oil prices are 95 $ an things were not such worse in Musharraf time when they touched 150 $ . His Facebook Fans have touched 200,000 figure and this is not Musharraf Gain , its the Loss of this Shameless Democracy which auto-change into his popularity…where inter-party elections are ‘Democraticaly’ kicked out….where there is no place for Saad Rafique, Javed Hashmi, Senator(retd) Anwar Baig, Sardar Asif Ahmed , Hussain Haqqani , Mushahid Hussain like people except Bilawal , Moonas and Hamza and other dynasty followers.
If you have not watched the yesterday Merai Mutabiq with Hassan Nisar , Dr.Mubashir Hassan and Arif Nizami , then you really missed whaat the intellectuals and general masses of Pakistan thinking about those ‘Democratic Looters’ .Plz. watch here…
http://pkpolitics.com/2010/05/07/meray-mutabiq-7-m ay-2010/
I voted it irrelevant news on grounds that in past Musharraf was able to do what he did because he was the head of the military. That position afforded him the power to implement his will with little or no opposition. However, I don’t think he can achieve much without that significant force backing him. It will probably take years of effort to build back his much tarnished image. Besides he has too much to answer for to be taken seriously.
I am very interested in knowing the views of people who think this is ‘irrelevant news’. They took part in the poll because the news and this post caught their attention, is it possible these folks actually meant they are abstaining from commenting or taking sides? I dont think this news is irrelevant in any sense. Another reason for interest is this group is # 2 in vote list. All other vote categories make sense.