Musharraf supporters getting cold feet

LONDON: Although former president Pervez Musharraf has advanced his return to almost three weeks from now, in mid January, many of his supporters are having cold feet as they are feeling that the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) had failed to generate any momentum for a desired grand comeback.
Musharraf had launched a drive here to charter a plane of at least 300 to accompany him to Pakistan but two weeks have gone and only a few, less than a dozen diehards have volunteered to come forward for booking their seats for Pakistan. “The target of 300 from the UK was ambitious,” conceded a senior APML leader, speaking on condition of secrecy.
The party structure in the UK exists only in the fragmented form, positions were distributed on the basis of “personal likes and dislikes and as a result no formal membership of the party exists and no grassroots cadres are there,” said the leader.
Musharraf has often boasted that he enjoys the support of the Diaspora Pakistanis, based on the belief that many Pakistanis liked his liberal policies and supported him too. After leaving Pakistan, as a result of a deal with the civilian government, Musharraf made London the hub of his political activities and its here that he has enjoyed good reception but the people around Musharraf, its clear, are letting him down.
The party in the UK is demoralised, divided and its workers are leaving the party in droves, like the rats jumping out of a sinking ship at the first opportunity. Many members who have left the party now have told this scribe that they decided to call it a day after seeing that affairs of the party have been handed over to a small group “concerned only with their own projection”.
“The in-fighting is at its peak. The tension is growing as the day of Musharraf’s departure is drawing closer. Many don’t believe it’s worth it anymore as they don’t see APML an alternative political force. Nobody is even bothered to ask those who are deserting the party about their grievances. Sir PM (as Musharraf is affectionately known by some in the party) is resigned and knows how he is being let down,” said a youth leader who recently submitted his resignation which was accepted without a question asked.
As is the trend these days, most of the activists, especially the young ones, who welcomed him in cities across the UK for a year, have either already defected to Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) or will do so in not so distant future. At least 3 senior leaders — involved in the preparation of Musharraf’s homecoming or seen to be involved — are waiting for the right time to join either Imran Khan’s party or Pakistan Muslims League (N).
The party’s financial state was revealed when this newspaper disclosed recently that Musharraf’s party headquarters in London have been boarded up and the party owes a lot of money to various creditors. This is despite the fact that Pervez Musharraf pumped in a reasonable amount of money but the people around him are not ready to spend a single penny.
After attending the last Dubai meeting, where Pervez Musharraf made his displeasure known with the dismal performance of the party, a key leader of Musharraf’s party was stopped at the Heathrow Airport and £15,000 in cash were captured by the immigration authorities, an insider told The News.
It’s not clear whether the money being brought in was for the party political reason or the APML leader’s personal use but its confirmed that an investigation is already underway. If no satisfactory answer and the origin of money is given, then the money will not be returned to the party leadership.
An APML spokesperson said: “There is no split in our party at all, we all are united and fully committed with Sir Pervez Musharraf and will fight till the last drop of our blood to support our beloved leader. Though black sheep are part and parcel of every political party but we can confirm with full confidence that non of our “key office holder” has ever joined PML-N or PTI.”