Musharraf bowled over by Imran’s charisma

After failing to establish his political party – the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) – on firm footing despite exaggerated hopes and claims, former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf has decided to fully support Imran Khan to help the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) break the status quo in the country.
A source in the APML told Pakistan Today that Musharraf had decided to let Imran’s party become the third force in the country to end the political monopoly of the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. “As Musharraf’s brainchild APML has failed to attract the masses, he has now pinned hopes on Imran to break the status quo,” said an APML leader seeking not to be attributed.
Musharraf’s growing fondness for Imran can also be gauged from his recent interviews in which he went an extra mile to defend the former cricket captain.
In his interview with Indian journalist Barkha Datt, Musharraf termed Imran the best among the existing lot of Pakistani politicians. Responding to another query by a journalist in the United States about Imran’s proximity with the Taliban, the former military dictator defended him, saying he was liberal and could not be dubbed as Taliban’s supporter or sympathiser.
An APML leader said Musharraf had developed a soft corner for Imran as both were following the same line of political action which was to end the status quo in the country. “Musharraf always welcomed the emergence of a third force in the country to get the masses freed from the clutches of conventional politicians of the PPP and PML-N… Imran Khan’s harsh stance against the Sharifs has also pushed Musharraf to praise and silently support the PTI,” he added. The APML leader claimed that Imran was also passing positive overtures to Musharraf. “For the last many months, the PTI chairman passed no harsh remarks about Musharraf and he also barred his party’s foreign chapters from staging protest demonstrations outside venues where Musharraf delivered lectures,” he said.
Commenting on the growing proximity between Musharraf’s APML and PTI, a close aide of the former president said due to a possible anti-Musharraf onslaught by the media, Imran’s party was not publicly extending political contacts with the APML. “With the passage of time, both parties will openly join each other to pursue a single point agenda of change,” he said.
Another source in the APML said that after pinning hopes on Imran, Musharraf had postponed his plan of returning to the country on March 23 next year.
When contacted, APML spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said his party supported Imran’s aim of breaking the status quo. “Musharraf also supported the emergence of a third force in the country, but we think Imran alone cannot bring change until he is supported by the PML-F, PML-Likeminded, the PML-Q minus the Chaudhrys and the APML,” he said.
Fawad said APML leaders would meet Musharraf on November 22-23 in Dubai in which the schedule and venue of Musharraf’s return would be decided.
“We hope Musharraf will return to the country in January or February next year, before the earlier announced date of March 23,” he added. PTI spokesman Zahid Kazmi said the PTI was in contact with Musharraf and there were chances of future political cooperation between the two parties. “We welcome Musharraf’s remarks about Imran as we always welcome truth … but we cannot afford the heavy baggage of former military dictator,” he said.