‘There was nothing democratic in PPP’s tenure’

APML supporters gather to condemn the house arrest of party chief.

KARACHI: Members of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) feel that the tenure of former president Pervez Musharraf had been more democratic than Pakistan Peoples Party’s time in power.

“I like the idea of being a part of a democracy but there was nothing democratic about the past five years,” said poet Nadeem Sibtain, at a rally organised by APML at Seaview on Tuesday.

At least 100 supporters of the party, who called themselves ‘Mohibaan-e-Musharraf’ [Musharraf’s lovers], participated in the rally. APML is boycotting the elections across the country, but the party’s candidate in Chitral district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, will be contesting. Sibtain felt that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had not delivered on its promises during its tenure. “We experienced a better version of democracy under Musharraf’s dictatorship,” he said, adding that even though the people had limited political freedom under Musharraf, they were not deprived of necessities.

Another member of the party, Sayed Asif Ali, felt that the government was playing vengeful politics by putting Musharraf under house arrest and preventing him from contesting the elections.

A student of SM Law College, Mohsin Ahmed, said that he supported the party because of the economic policies Musharraf introduced during his time. “Pakistan had Rs17 billion in reserves during his tenure,” said Ahmed, adding that for the first time in their history, Pakistan International Airline and Pakistan Railways were making profits.

“We support Musharraf because we have tested his leadership skills,” said a supporter, Captain Imran Ghauri. “Under his rule, we had electricity, water and gas but we lost everything during the past five years,” he added. He also felt that the judiciary didn’t have the right to point fingers at Musharraf because “there is corruption at every step in the judicial system”. He thought it was unfair on the part of the judiciary to put  Musharraf under house arrest.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2013.