Former military ruler-turned-politician retired General Pervez Musharraf has resigned as the chairman of his All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party.
“General Musharraf has voluntarily resigned as party chairman because of his disqualification,” APML’s new chairman Dr Mohammad Amjad said yesterday. “He [Musharraf] has quit the party office, but he has left neither the party nor politics.”
Musharraf, who is currently based in the United Arab Emirates, has been disqualified for life by the Peshawar High Court, and under the election laws he cannot head a political party.
On June 14, the Supreme Court withdrew its interim order allowing him to file nomination papers for the general elections as he failed to appear before it despite an opportunity afforded to him by Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar.
Amjad told a press conference that the Election Commission of Pakistan had asked the APML to elect a new chairman in light of Musharraf’s disqualification and the SC’s latest order.
“We informed General Musharraf about the situation and he said he didn’t believe in forcibly sticking to the party office. He said he was voluntarily resigning from the office,” Amjad said.
He said that the former president resigned from the party office on June 18 and the party approved the decision in its meeting held on June 20.