Pervez Musharraf’s ‘Grand Alliance’ Falls Apart on Second Day

TIL Desk/World/Islamabad/ In a setback to Pakistan’s former dictator Pervez Musharraf, several parties have dissociated themselves from his Awami Ittehad alliance only a day after he announced the formation of a “grand alliance” of 23 parties.

Two major partners of the alliance – the Pakistan Awami Tehrik and the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen – denied being part of the coalition headed by Musharraf. Addressing media persons through video conferencing from Dubai on Friday, the 74-year-old former president had said all parties representing the Muhajir community should be united.

Musharraf, himself a Muhajir, had left Pakistan for Dubai in March last year after the interior ministry issued a notification to remove his name from the exit control list. Muhajirs are Urdu-speaking people who migrated from India during the partition. The grand alliance named Pakistan Awami Ittehad is headed by Musharraf, while Iqbal Dar has been appointed as Secretary-General.

The Pakistan Awami Tehrik distanced from the alliance. Soon afterwards, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) also denied being part of the alliance. “Neither anyone has consulted us over an alliance nor any of our leaders attended meetings of any political or electoral alliance,” the paper quoted the MWM sources as saying.