Islamabad: Pakistan`s Election Commission was Tuesday petitioned to register a political party in the name of former president Pervez Musharraf but there are indications that the military dictator who once ran the country with an iron hand would not join the grouping.
Rawalpindi resident Muhammad Ashfaq Chaudhry confirmed to Online news agency that he had filed an application to register the All Pakistan Muslim League (Musharraf Group).
He said the party would "totally" function under chairmanship of Musharraf, who stepped down as president in August 2008 and has been on a lecture tour abroad for about a year.
Chaudhry said in the plea to the Election Commission that his party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, "is already functioning in the national politics and we want to participate in the next elections in the name of All Pakistan Muslim League (Musharraf Group)".
Earlier this month, Musharraf`s spokesman in Pakistan, Major General (retired) Rashid Qureshi, said the former president is yet to decide on joining the APML.
"Musharraf has not yet decided to join the party and is waiting for the right time to join Pakistani politics. There are 155,000 members of Pasdaran-e-Pakistan and 150,000 (Musharraf followers) on Facebook. Its shows how popular he is (among the) masses," Qureshi was quoted as saying in The Nation.
Pasdaran-e-Pakistan is a Pakistani political grouping floated in Musharraf`s name last year.
On his part, Musharraf has been ambivalent on returning to Pakistan and getting involved in politics.
"If I have to just go there and join a political fray and be involved in accusations and counter-accusations ? like most of the politicians are doing," he was quoted as saying at a Seattle news conference last month, "I am not interested in that kind of politics".
IANS
