RAWALPINDI: Breaking the silence after nearly three months, former president Pervez Musharraf said he would not be running away from Pakistan.
"I am not running away from Pakistan. Rather, I will defend [myself] in all cases against me before a court of law," General (retired) Musharraf said to supporters gathered in Islamabad as he spoke via telephone.
"I have to go out of Pakistan only to see my ailing mother and will return back to you," he said to the gathering.
He said the cases against him are politically motivated and baseless.
He also lamented the current economic situation and claimed that when he resigned in 2008, the country had $18 billion reserves as compared to only $4 billion to $5billion today.
He condemned the Model Town incident and condoled with the families of those who had lost their lives.
Earlier, a convention of the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) elected Musharraf as chairman of the party for the next term.
Govt under pressure to allow Musharraf's departure, says PML-N Senator
Earlier on Sunday, a senior government leader has admitted that the government is under immense pressure to remove the name of former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf from the Exit Control List (ECL) and let him go abroad.
"There is pressure on the government to allow General Musharraf to leave Pakistan," Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq told the media in Rawalpindi.
The former president is currently residing in Karachi where he is receiving treatment at PNS Shifa after undergoing a heart ailment in the midst of the treason trial initiated by the incumbent government against him.
Analysts feel the friction between the government and military leadership is a result of the government's pursuance of the Musharraf treason trial.
Calls for anti-government protests lead by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT)chief Tahirul Qadri have unnerved Nawaz Sharif's fledgling civilian government as the country has a history of coups and street protests.
Some members of the ruling party fear the protesters may be getting support from elements in the military, which has had a series of disagreements with the government. The military denies meddling in politics.
Zafarul Haq rejected speculations that the government will be sent packing and said it would complete its five-year tenure at any cost.
"PM Nawaz Sharif will not step down and there is no reason for aiming for this move," Haq said.
A close aide of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Raja Zafarul Haq also chairman of Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N).
Various ministers in the recent past had been saying that there was no pressure on the government to remove Musharraf's name from the list that bars citizens from leaving the country.
The decision of the Sindh High Court which directed the interior ministry to remove the former dictator's name from the ECL was challenged by the federal government in the Supreme Court.
The apex court is yet to issue a final decision in this regard, however it has suspended the high court order.