ISLAMABAD, 3 September 2007 — Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and an ally of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has advised the president to doff his uniform before going for re-election.
The comments are seen as a shift in PML-Q policy. Shujaat and his cousin, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, present chief minister of Punjab, had previously announced on many occasions that they would have Musharraf re-elected in uniform.
Political observers have taken Shujaat’s statement as a blackmailing chip to thwart an expected power-sharing deal between former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Musharraf. GEO TV first flashed Shujaat’s statement. The TV channel said, “Chaudhry Shujaat, who had opposed the Musharraf-Benazir deal, had threatened ‘we too have a few cards to play. It would be easier for us to get Musharraf re-elected if he files his nomination papers as a civilian candidate’.”
Meanwhile, former chief minister of Punjab Mian Manzoor Wattoo said, “President Pervez Musharraf will doff the uniform in November.” The statement comes at a time when the president is short of options to survive. Musharraf is in a political dilemma with no settlement in sight in a power-sharing scheme with Benazir. The key US ally now faces the specter of two ex-premiers flying home to challenge his shaky eight-year military rule. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is arriving in the country on Sept.10.
Retired Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi, the president’s media adviser, told journalists, “We haven’t closed dialogue with the chairperson of Pakistan People’s Party. We are having smooth talks and will announce the outcome of our final settlement with Benazir Bhutto shortly.”
The News daily also reported yesterday that Secretary of the National Security Council Tariq Aziz was still assigned to finalize a settlement with Benazir Bhutto.
Meanwhile, Benazir announced in London that she would make a final decision to return to Pakistan on Sept.14.
The Texas-based think tank Stratfor reported, “Now, it is not an issue if Musharraf quits, the issue is when.”
Musharraf is facing threats on his very survival with parties allied to him refusing a broader political arrangement with main national parties. Sources say that in the absence of a broad-based political settlement, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will soon advise the president to dissolve the current assemblies as the ruling PML-Q has upset Musharraf by not agreeing with his planned fresh political moves.
“If this option is exercised, then President Musharraf will seek re-election from the next assemblies, which are to be elected by January 2008,” a well placed official source said. In the case of being re-elected by the current assemblies, Musharraf will be chasing legitimacy because he may not get a vote of confidence from the next assemblies.
With Benazir refusing to offer her party’s cooperation to Musharraf and the scheduled arrival of Nawaz Sharif, Musharraf will be facing a crisis of a multidimensional nature.
Being a strong ally of the US in the war against terror, Musharraf has already been weakened after the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.
His plans for re-election are already challenged in the Supreme Court.
With Benazir refusing to enter into an arrangement with Musharraf, Pakistan may witness a political crisis that may derail the process of democracy. This would not receive approval from Musharraf’s allies in the United States and the West.
