Musharraf says he will act as father figure to new Pakistan PM - International Herald Tribune
LONDON: Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf believes he can act as a father figure to the country's new prime minister following national elections, a British newspaper quoted him as saying Sunday.
Musharraf predicted success for his supporters in Monday's poll and used an interview with a British newspaper to attack Pakistan's deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry.
"My role as a president is simply the checks and balances the seatbelts ... a sort of father figure to the Prime Minister, but I won't have to see him for weeks," Musharraf was quoted as telling the Independent on Sunday newspaper.
He said he expected the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q to "certainly have the majority," in Monday's election.
"Whether they'll be able to form a government is a question mark," he was quoted as saying, in an interview with Jemima Khan ex-wife of opposition party leader Imran Khan.
But Musharraf rejected the predictions of opinion polls, some of which give the PML-Q as little as 12 percent support, claiming they were biased against him.
"They have been abusing me right from the beginning and you will never get good results from them," Musharraf was quoted as saying.
"The media have let me down ... the NGOs are against me. I don't know why. I think I have been the strongest proponent of human rights," he said.
But Musharraf told the newspaper he had solid support from Western leaders, without specifying exactly whom he was referring to.
He also criticized Chaudhry, who was suspended last March and has been held under virtual house arrest in Islamabad. He has become a symbol of resistance against Musharraf.
Chaudhry is "the scum of the earth, a third-rate man, a corrupt man," Musharraf was quoted as saying.
LONDON: Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf believes he can act as a father figure to the country's new prime minister following national elections, a British newspaper quoted him as saying Sunday.
Musharraf predicted success for his supporters in Monday's poll and used an interview with a British newspaper to attack Pakistan's deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry.
"My role as a president is simply the checks and balances the seatbelts ... a sort of father figure to the Prime Minister, but I won't have to see him for weeks," Musharraf was quoted as telling the Independent on Sunday newspaper.
He said he expected the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q to "certainly have the majority," in Monday's election.
"Whether they'll be able to form a government is a question mark," he was quoted as saying, in an interview with Jemima Khan ex-wife of opposition party leader Imran Khan.
But Musharraf rejected the predictions of opinion polls, some of which give the PML-Q as little as 12 percent support, claiming they were biased against him.
"They have been abusing me right from the beginning and you will never get good results from them," Musharraf was quoted as saying.
"The media have let me down ... the NGOs are against me. I don't know why. I think I have been the strongest proponent of human rights," he said.
But Musharraf told the newspaper he had solid support from Western leaders, without specifying exactly whom he was referring to.
He also criticized Chaudhry, who was suspended last March and has been held under virtual house arrest in Islamabad. He has become a symbol of resistance against Musharraf.
Chaudhry is "the scum of the earth, a third-rate man, a corrupt man," Musharraf was quoted as saying.
