Musharraf rejects SC directives to appear in person

DUBAI: Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has rejected the Supreme Court’s directives to appear in person before the court on June 13 in Lahore to file his nomination papers to contest the July 25 general elections.

He asked the court to guarantee him bail in all the cases filed against him. The former president demanded that he should be allowed to take part in elections freely without any court appearances.

The former military ruler was addressing his party workers during Iftar dinner in Dubai. The event was hosted by All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) Dubai President Shehzad Ghous. Pervez Musharraf said the Supreme Court’s decision created so much “confusion” and he compared the Supreme Court’s directives about himself with the overturned decision of former Pakistani foreign minister Khawaja Asif in which the Supreme Court allowed him to contest elections.

The Supreme Court recently allowed former president Pervez Musharraf to file his nomination papers to contest July 25 general elections on the condition that he would appear in person before the court on June 13 in Lahore to attend the court hearing.

The directive was issued by a three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, which had taken up Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s plea against his disqualification by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) in 2013.

He demanded the courts to issue directives to the authorities not to arrest him while he contests for elections. While talking to the media, Pervez Musharraf believed that he was feeling “alone” and “confused” but his party workers encouraged him to participate in polls for the betterment of the country.

In reply to a question asked by The News regarding his blocked passport and national identity card, the former president regrettably stated that he has been trying to find out the authorities who have blocked his travel documents. He believed that an official from the current interim government blocked his passport and that this issue should be resolved first.