ISLAMABAD: The shortage of electricity is not the only worry which the PML-N leadership will be grappling with.

Former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf’s presence in the capital is another major concern which the party will have to address soon after taking over the charge on June 5.

Since the May 18 meeting between army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and incoming prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif in Lahore, top leaders of the PML-N have repeatedly broached the cases of Gen Musharraf which the coming government, willy-nilly, will be stumbling into, according to an aide to the leadership.

He said that after the electricity crisis, the second most important subject discussed over the past 10 days or so by the kitchen cabinet of Mr Sharif, comprising Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Senator Ishaq Dar and others, was how to handle the cases of Gen Musharraf.

While the PML-N leaders were brainstorming over the Musharraf factor, the former president seemed undisturbed at the prospect of Mr Sharif coming to power.

The information secretary of the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), Aasia Ishaq, said the former president was determined to face the cases against him and would stay put in the country, come what may. “The APML has repeatedly said that Gen Musharraf expects justice from the courts, and is not worried about new political developments in the country.” Ms Ishaq said that since the former president had decided to clear his name from all these cases, it didn’t matter whether there was a PPP or PML-N government.

Currently under detention, Gen Musharraf is facing a litany of cases, including trial under Article 6 of the constitution for imposing emergency on Nov 3, 2007, his alleged role in the Benazir Bhutto and Akbar Bugti murder cases, the Lal Masjid operation and the judges’ detention case.

A number of options were on the anvil to deal with the situation, said the aide.

He said that while the Saudi rulers and the US are for a safe passage for Gen Musharraf, many in the party strongly believed that the former military dictator flying out at this point would bring bad name to the PML-N. Particularly, the party source explained, the right wing elements, those who had suffered under the former military regime and Baloch nationalists with whom the PML-N leaders every now and then had expressed solidarity against Gen Musharraf, would strongly react “if we leave Gen Musharraf just like that under foreign pressure. The media will haunt us like anything.”

On the option of pursuing the cases in courts to decide the fate of Gen Musharraf, notably in the emergency case, some in the party argue that it would open a Pandora’s box, dragging the then military top brass and civilian leadership in the hearings, hence the party should keep its hands off Article 6.

Gen Musharraf has taken the stand in his reply in the court that he had followed the required consultation process before imposing the emergency.

According to the sources, a suggestion has also been made during the discussions that the PML-N should take the matter of Gen Musharraf to parliament for a collective stand in consultation with other parties on whether or not to try him for treason.

“In all these scenarios, the PML-N will have to take the lead role, which is why the party leadership is quite concerned,” a leader of the party said.

He conceded that it wouldn’t be easy for his party to invoke Article 6 against Gen Musharraf. Secondly, he said, the party could ill-afford any controversy of this magnitude soon after taking over.

“Maybe a go slow or a hands off policy can work in the party’s favour,” he said.

Soon after he becomes chief executive of the country, people in general and the media in particular will expect Mr Sharif to address the issue of whether his government would try Gen Musharraf under Article 6 for subverting the constitution, a member of PML-N’s central executive committee said. “For me it will be the first major test of the PML-N government,” he said.

The caretaker government had refused in April to become a party in the emergency case, arguing that the matter was beyond its mandate.

Headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court was hearing a set of petitions seeking initiation of a high treason case against Musharraf for proclaiming emergency on Nov 3, 2007. The court sought the caretaker government’s opinion on the case.

A similar question would be posed to the PML-N government, the leader said.

The stance of the coming government will only be known after June 5 but PML-N spokesperson Senator Mushahidullah Khan said court directives would be implemented in letter and spirit.

Mr Khan said since the party had struggled for the supremacy of the rule of law in the country, it could not think of any backroom deal to rescue the former military dictator.

Former PML-Q senator and information minister Tariq Azeem, who has joined the PML-N and successfully run the party’s media campaign during the elections, said on May 28 that the PML-N would go ahead with treason charges against his former boss. Mr Azeem confirmed that Mr Sharif had discussed the case in recent party meetings. Mr Azeem wasn’t available for his comments on Saturday.

On the legal side, retired Justice Tariq Mehmood, a Supreme Court lawyer, said if the PML-N decided to actively pursue the cases against Gen Musharraf, it would definitely go back to October 1999 to punish many others who had joined hands with him against the then government of Mr Sharif. “It will be a huge gamble,” he said.

In Justice Mehmood’s opinion, a lot has been said and done to strike fear into the hearts of the powers that be, therefore, it would be better for the PML-N leadership to concentrate more on running the country rather than spending its energies on fixing Gen Musharraf.