Mr. Musharraf says he is not such a trouble creator

President Pervez Musharraf has said that he was not a trouble maker, and vowed to cooperate with whoever wins January 8 general elections.

Islamabad, Dec 12 : President Pervez Musharraf has said that he was not a "trouble maker", and vowed to cooperate with whoever wins January 8 general elections.

"I will try to work with anyone who comes to power after the elections," Musharraf told Al-Jazeera.

"I interact with people quite well, I am not such a trouble creator," he added.

Former premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif have accused Musharraf of trying to rig the polls in favour of parties that back him.

But Musharraf said that he was willing to work with the victors of the January 8 polls.

Although both Bhutto and Sharif are currently barred from serving a third term in office, neither has shown much inclination to let their parties cooperate with him after the elections.

After flying back to Islamabad from Dubai, Bhutto said that the presence of the PPP and the PML-N would force a fair poll.

"Nawaz Sharif has taken a correct decision that his party should participate in the election," Bhutto said.

"When two big parties participate, the government will be compelled to hold fair elections. It will strengthen democracy," she added.

Fears of a boycott that would draw global criticism of the vote had haunted Musharraf, the Daily Times reported.

International pressure has forced Musharraf to give up his uniform last month, but he told the channel that as a civilian President he would keep a close relationship with the military.

"My relationship with army is not direct, obviously. There is protocol obviously, there is the Chief of Army Staff," he said.

"However 46 years of association does not get washed off, they will remember me, I will remember them for quite some time to come," he said.

Defending his action against the superior judiciary, Musharraf said that deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry wanted to "remove him illegally".

He said if Chaudhry had been allowed "to have his way", the judiciary would have landed the country into chaos.

Calling terrorism a 'cancer', Musharraf said it had to be defeated at all costs, otherwise it could seriously damage the country.

ANI