Musharraf’s party calls for withdrawal of treason trial to ‘end political deadlock’

Pervaiz Musharraf on trial (Credit: presstv.ir)
Pervaiz Musharraf on trial
(Credit: presstv.ir)

LAHORE, Aug 23: With so much uncertainty and speculation already surrounding the ongoing political crisis in Islamabad, former president Pervez Musharraf’s party has thrown its own curveball in the mix. 

The All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) has called upon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to immediately withdraw the government’s treason trial against Musharraf as part of what it called a ‘compromise’ to unlock the current political crisis.

In a statement released on Saturday, political advisor to Musharraf Chaudhry Sarfraz Anjum Kahlon stated that it was “compulsory for any discussion concerning an end to the current national political crisis to include the immediate withdrawal of the politically-motivated treason trial against Musharraf.”

Describing the treason trial as a “fundamental element of the ongoing political crisis,” Kahlon claimed he has received “assurances from senior members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Isaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) that the withdrawal of the treason trial would be privately presented as a fundamental demand in negotiations with the government.”

According to the statement, in June 2013,  Kahlon lead private discussions with the PTI and the PAT in which it had been agreed that both parties would provide support to Musharraf “at the right time”.

Kahlon added, in the statement, that “Nawaz Sharif has lost his political mandate to pursue the baseless treason trial, which has served to undermine the country’s democratic system.”

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