Former president Pervez Musharraf has resigned as the chairman of the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), according to the new party chairman, Dr Muhammad Amjad.
Dr Amjad told media that Musharraf had tendered his resignation to the party on June 18 due to the Peshawar High Court’s 2013 verdict which had disqualified him from politics for life.
That verdict has been challenged on Musharraf’s behalf in the Supreme Court, which had issued a directive earlier this month allowing him to file his nomination papers only if he returned and was present in the court hearing on June 13 in Lahore, cautioning that the fate of the papers would be subject to the final decision in the present case.
Although Musharraf’s representatives had submitted his nomination papers for Chitral’s NA-1 seat, the former military ruler failed to return to Pakistan after which the SC withdrew its directive allowing nomination papers to be filed.
Musharraf explained that he had put off his return after the SC order forced him to change his mind.
Speaking to journalists via video link, the former president said the apex court order “barring the authorities from arresting me till my appearance before the august court has forced me to rethink my plans about return”.
“There will be no benefit of my return to the country if I am arrested just after my appearance before the court,” he said.
“The entire world knows that I am not a coward, but now I will wait for an appropriate time to return,” he claimed.
Subsequently, Musharraf resigned from APML chairmanship, and also sent his resignation to the Election Commission of Pakistan.
After he stepped down, the party’s Central Executive Committee elected Dr Amjad as their new leader, with Mehreen Malik Adam set to serve as secretary general.
