Punjab politics: ‘Musharraf will come back by year end’
APML to hold rally, seeks support from former local govt officials.
LAHORE:
Former President Pervez Musharraf will return to Pakistan at the end of the year, said members of his political party, the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML).
The APML has planned a rally on April 17 in Lahore, which Musharraf is expected to address via video conferencing and lay out the party’s agenda.
The party appears to be gearing up for a political fight against Punjab’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz). The APML has issued a ‘charge sheet’ outlining the failures of the Punjab government and written a letter to elected local officials in Punjab asking them to support the party.
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was prime minister in October 1999 when he was ousted by General Musharraf in a military coup. Musharraf introduced the elected local government system in 2001, which was then abolished by the PML-N when it came into office in Punjab in 2008.
The response from former union council officials has been lukewarm. Of the more than 86,000 nazims in the last local administration in Punjab, only 140 have agreed to join the party at its April 17 rally, according to Chaudhry Fahad Hussain, the Punjab head of the APML.
In recent months, the APML has tried to align itself with other political parties. APML leaders attended a Lahore rally held by the Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), in what was billed as the MQM’s bid to launch itself as a national party.
The APML seems to be seeking to compete especially strongly for Punjab. Party leaders were keen to point out that the former president would be landing at Lahore Airport when he returns to the country and that the party would arrange a welcome event for him in the capital city of the largest province in the country.
Meanwhile, the party’s ‘charge sheet’ against the PML-N government in Punjab levels a series of allegations of the misuse of authority and abuse of power, and alleges that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has a “lust for power.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2011.
Former President Pervez Musharraf will return to Pakistan at the end of the year, said members of his political party, the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML).
The APML has planned a rally on April 17 in Lahore, which Musharraf is expected to address via video conferencing and lay out the party’s agenda.
The party appears to be gearing up for a political fight against Punjab’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz). The APML has issued a ‘charge sheet’ outlining the failures of the Punjab government and written a letter to elected local officials in Punjab asking them to support the party.
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was prime minister in October 1999 when he was ousted by General Musharraf in a military coup. Musharraf introduced the elected local government system in 2001, which was then abolished by the PML-N when it came into office in Punjab in 2008.
The response from former union council officials has been lukewarm. Of the more than 86,000 nazims in the last local administration in Punjab, only 140 have agreed to join the party at its April 17 rally, according to Chaudhry Fahad Hussain, the Punjab head of the APML.
In recent months, the APML has tried to align itself with other political parties. APML leaders attended a Lahore rally held by the Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), in what was billed as the MQM’s bid to launch itself as a national party.
The APML seems to be seeking to compete especially strongly for Punjab. Party leaders were keen to point out that the former president would be landing at Lahore Airport when he returns to the country and that the party would arrange a welcome event for him in the capital city of the largest province in the country.
Meanwhile, the party’s ‘charge sheet’ against the PML-N government in Punjab levels a series of allegations of the misuse of authority and abuse of power, and alleges that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has a “lust for power.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2011.