Musharraf was a failure, says Musharraf

Pakistani Army chief General Pervez Musharraf has objected to the criticism of his second coup saying the political opposition had no locus standi to oppose his move. “When I executed my first coup in 1999, there was outrage but there was also a justification for that outrage. I had ejected the elected government of Mr Nawaz Sharif. And it was understandable that his party would be hurt. But this time the Army General has snatched power from President Pervez Musharraf and if anybody has the right to go to the streets screaming in protest, it’s Pervez Musharraf, not Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif.,” General Musharraf said in a candid interview that never happened.
He said President Musharraf’s government had failed on multiple counts in the last five years and had no right to stay in power. “The government had failed on all fronts. Musharraf was unfit to rule. Terrorists put up a show like Lal Masjid right in the heart of Islamabad and international media started calling Pakistan the most dangerous country in the world. President Musharraf sirf baatein banana jaanta tha and the Islamic republic was becoming a banana republic. My inner voice, which sounds exactly like Abraham Lincoln, said I had to take control of the country,” General Musharraf said.
“Lincoln said ‘clothes maketh a man’. You become what you wear. President Musharraf had become a soft civilian like his soft achkan. Pakistan deserves a strong leader, so I, General Musharraf, had to step in. I believe in democracy but it has to like me and be like me. President Musharraf had his fingers crossed as he hoped for the Supreme Court’s approval of his election. While General Musharraf ordered his own Supreme Court and then ordered it to approve everything overnight, you understand,” he told us.
When told that Abraham Lincoln had nothing to do with the quote “clothes maketh a man”, the general said it doesn’t matter what coat Lincoln wore. “What’s important is what Pakistan’s ruler wears. He must feel he is in fatigues, even when in a Jinnah jacket.”
“Lincoln and my inner voice said: ‘By general law life and limb must be protected; yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life.’ I amputated the president to save the general. By 15th of November, the general was supposed to shed his uniform. Inaction at this moment was suicide for the general and I could allow him to commit suicide. So I let the President go to hell.”
When we asked whether we could speak to President Pervez Musharraf and not General Musharraf for his reaction, the Army chief said: “All politicians are under house arrest. And no politician, and that includes Pervez Musharraf, is allowed to speak to the media.”