Former president and APML chief General (r) Pervez Musharraf has called for holding of transparent general elections under the army’s supervision, formation of a caretaker government three months before the polls and permission to him for taking part in the elections.
Addressing an audience of 168 retired army officers through video-link at a local hotel under the banner of ‘Pakistan First’ on Saturday, Musharraf said fake cases were being registered against him to block his return. Insisting that he was not a coward, Musharraf said transparent elections were impossible under the incumbent regime and since the army was an institution, which ensured guarantee for the country’s security, general elections should be supervised by the armed forces. However, the former dictator said democracy was the only answer to all issues faced by the country but insisted that some elements were conspiring to defame the army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
“Such elements are launching anti-army propaganda to weaken the country,” he said, adding that he was returning to his homeland to take part in the next elections but his return was being blocked by registration of false cases. He insisted that he did not aim at returning using any foreign channel and rather was counting on public support for his return. He also expressed commitment with the armed forces, adding that the last drop of his blood was for the army and the country. ‘Pakistan First’ is a forum of retired armed forces officers with a large representation of all three services from all over Pakistan and around 93,000 members from ex-servicemen association are affiliated with it. The forum claims to be non-political and having no affiliation with any political party and supports democracy and the rule of law. Top ranked former generals attended the meeting including two four star generals, 17 three star generals, 25 major generals, and around 50 brigadiers. These included ex-GCSC General (r) Muhammad Aziz Khan, ex-CNS Adm (r) Shahid Karimullah, Lt Gen (r) Khalid Maqbool, Lt Gen (r) Tanwir Naqvi, Lt Gen (r) Anis Abbasi, Lt Gen (r) Salahuddin Satti, Lt Gen (r) Hamid Javed, Lt Gen (r) Javed Alam Khan, Lt Gen (r) Rehan Burney, Lt Gen (r) Masood Perwaiz, Lt Gen (r) Munir Hafiez, Lt Gen (r) Syed Absar Hussain, Lt Gen (r) Sajjad Akram, Lt Gen (r) Shahid Hamid, Gen (r) Zarrar Azim, Vice Adm (r) ST Naqvi, Vice Adm (r) Shamoon Alam Khan, Air Marshal (r) Rashid Kaleem, Air Marshal (r) Shahid Hamid, Maj Gen (r) Asif Akhtar, Maj Gen (r) Farid Faiz Ch, Maj Gen (r) Farrukh Javed, Maj Gen (r) Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Maj Gen (r) Haroon Sikandar Pasha, Maj Gen (r) Malik Iftikhar Khan, Maj Gen (r) Javed Aslam Tahir, Maj Gen (r) Jamshed Ayaz, Maj Gen (r) Sultan Habib, Maj Gen (R) Rashid Qureshi, Maj Gen (r) Tanvirullah and Maj Gen (r)Zafar Abbas. The retired army officers passed a unanimous resolution that all citizens including Gen Musharraf had the right to return to and live in Pakistan and contest elections according to democratic norms.
“We feel that Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf should be provided with a level playing field in the political arena and also provided protocol and security by the government as befits any ex-president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” the resolution said. The resolution also condemned army and ISI bashing.
Hold polls under army supervision, says Musharraf
