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Pakistan’s former military strongman Pervez Musharraf said yesterday he would contest a May parliamentary election despite death threats from Taliban militants.
Musharraf returned to Pakistan at the weekend to a muted welcome by around 1,000 supporters in his hometown of Karachi, ending nearly four years of self-imposed exile.
“We will pitch candidates in all four provinces,” Musharraf told a news conference in the city.
“I am hopeful that we will win significant (number of) seats.”
He plans to run for a seat in the National Assembly as leader of the All Pakistan Muslim League party.
Musharraf is enmeshed in three court cases: the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto in 2007; the killing of a Baloch tribal leader in 2006; and the confinement of judges following the imposition of emergency rule in 2007.
He has already been granted protective bail for two weeks in the first two cases, and 10 days in the third. He denies any wrongdoing.
Musharraf took power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and ruled till his supporters lost power in a 2008 election. He then lived in London and Dubai.
Pakistan this week swore in a caretaker prime minister to oversee the polls scheduled for May 11.