Could President Pervez Musharrafs eight-year-long political career be coming to a close?
Islamabad, Feb 19 : Could President Pervez Musharraf's eight-year-long 'political' career be coming to a close?
According to an editorial in the Daily Times: he has done unrepairable damage to his political career and image through his interview with Jemima Khan. Khan was doing the interview on behalf of the English daily The Independent.
The interview mainly focused on his strategies, which revealed mistakes committed by him. It also called on the people of Pakistan to search for an alternative to him should a new democratic Government emerge after the elections.
President Musharraf's prediction that the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) would jointly emerge with a majority in parliament has come unstuck as the unofficial results have shown so far. Television channels had predicted a different view that the public would not be interested in the PML-Q.
The main theme of the interview was that all main political parties of Pakistan are corrupt and should not be given any mileage, according to the editorial.
Musharraf's revelation that he had to introduce the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) under pressure from the Western powers also exposes the regime, as everyone was aware that the ordinance was being heard in the Supreme Court.
According to the editorial,' He has no realisation that what the UK, the US and Saudi Arabia forced on him, was also the desire of the Pakistani electorate.'
The editorial says that the late Benazir Bhutto's fears are turning into reality ------that Musharraf may be involved with Al Qaeda.
The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) may use this to join hands with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) after elections, adds the editorial.
The editorial also highlights Musharraf's contradictory answers. On the one hand he accuses Western leaders of putting pressure on him and on the other, he says: "the only people who are not against me are the Western leaders who are absolutely supportive of me."
His description of sacked Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as "the scum of the earth...a third-rate man...a corrupt man", also shows him in poor light, says the editorial.
His lack of concern about the lawyer's demand for the restoration of the Chief Justice and other disposed judges also shows up.
With the PML-Q slowly distancing itself from him, it can be concluded that his interview with Jemima Khan could prove fatal and terminate trust both within and outside the country.
ANI