Pervez Musharraf says he hopes “to bring about a new political culture” in Pakistan Former Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf is to launch his new political party on Friday.
Several of his associates have arrived in London where the All Pakistan Muslim League will be unveiled, reports say.
The former president told the BBC that the government in Pakistan was dysfunctional and the economy and the country were failing.
At such times, he said, the Pakistanis were keen for the military to fix the country’s problems.
Mr Musharraf said he was launching the party in London because he risked assassination if he returned to Pakistan.
Despite the statements of Pervez Musharraf and his allies, the former president remains one of the most unpopular people in Pakistan.
This is not to say that he does not have some supporters – his base is primarily among the affluent and Westernised urban elite of the country. But that is a minuscule constituency that almost never votes in the general elections.
More importantly though, he has a large number of admirers in the Pakistani establishment – the military-civil bureaucracy combine which effectively runs the country. But they are always known to back a candidate with at least half a chance.
At the moment, Mr Musharraf has none – mainly because he is blamed by the masses for most of the country’s current problems.
He also remains on top of the hit list of most jihadi groups in Pakistan – precluding an immediate return. All this suggests he needs a miracle to have any hope of changing Pakistan’s political landscape.
Last month, he said he would return to Pakistan for the next national elections, scheduled for 2013.
The former president went into exile in 2008 after his allies lost elections.
Mr Musharraf, who now lives in London, announced earlier this year he would set up the All Pakistan Muslim League to address “the crises facing Pakistan”, and the party began a public recruitment campaign.
By returning to politics in Pakistan, he says he hopes to bring about a new political culture to the country.
There are legal cases pending against Mr Musharraf back home and if he does go back he will have to face them.
Mr Musharraf says the cases are politically motivated.
Last month, he told the BBC he would be standing for a seat in the 2013 parliamentary elections. From there he said he hoped to become either prime minister or president.
He seized power in 1999 when, as chief of Pakistan’s army, he ousted elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a coup.
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