Musharraf open to alliance with Imran

Former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf said on Sunday that he was “reasonably sure” that the military would not resort to a coup, but that he would support the army if it took over. The former president also said he was open to an alliance with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, but would not serve under him if elected to power. “I don’t think the army intends to take over. The environment is not at all conducive for the army to take over. I think the army understands that,” he told Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN’s programme Devil’s Advocate. Asked if he would back a coup, Musharraf said: “I am reasonably sure that an army coup will not take place but my support always remains with the army.”
“I’ve been an army man and I can never imagine being against the army… I am with the army, I will stand by the army,” he said.
On the possibility of an alliance with Imran Khan, he said: “If they want an alliance, certainly I would like to have an alliance. We have to come up with a third political option because the two political options presently and in the past have been tried and failed… there is a need for coalition of forces that can bring about that third political option that can deliver to Pakistan.” Musharraf, who intends to return to Pakistan from self-imposed exile later this month, said he was aware of the people in Khan’s party who kept saying they would not get into an alliance with him. “But they don’t have a vision, they don’t understand what they are talking about. They go into the field and lose and then (people) choose the same parties [again], then Pakistan suffers,” he said. He vehemently rejected suggestions of serving under Khan, if the alliance came to power. “I cannot serve under him. I can be outside… I cannot be serving under anyone,” the former military ruler said.