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Pakistan's Musharraf to form political party
ISLAMABAD Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf is planning to launch a political party in a comeback bid two years after he was unseated in elections, officials said Wednesday.Musharraf, who has been abroad since leaving office after nine years in power, could face trial if he returns home and is wanted for questioning by the current government over the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.
An aide and election official confirmed to AFP that the retired general has applied to register a new political party with the electoral authorities in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
Mohammad Ali Saif, a former cabinet minister and now a Musharraf legal adviser, said election authorities would hear the application on May 10.
"I have formally applied for a new political party called All Pakistan Muslim League. Pervez Musharraf is the head of this party and we will formally announce it after getting registered," he told AFP.
Saif, an unofficial spokesman for Musharraf, is active in organising the new political party and said the former president had told him in London that he intended to return to Pakistan and fight a criminal case.
Pakistan police registered a case against Musharraf in August, a precursor to potentially putting the ex-president on trial for detaining judges in 2007 as he attempted to cling onto power.
Musharraf imposed a state of emergency and sacked about 60 judges in November 2007 when the supreme court appeared poised to declare him ineligible to contest a presidential election while in military uniform.
"I am in Punjab to establish our party structure here. We will establish it across Pakistan. I can see a bright future for Musharraf in Pakistan," Saif told AFP.
Sabir Hussain Gilani, a spokesman for the election commission of Pakistan, confirmed that the body had received the application.
"They want to register their party as All Pakistan Muslim League but there are two more applications wanting the same name," he said.
The chief election commissioner has issued notices to all the applicants and will decide on their application next month, the spokesman added.
---AFP