Defender of Musa Gilani made PM’s special assistant

SLAMABAD: Surrounded by a huge grey area around his legitimacy, convicted Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani has appointed General (R) Pervez Musharraf’s former spokesman, Fawad Chaudhry as his Special Assistant on Political Affairs, raising a new controversy about the appointment.

Not surprisingly, the newly appointed special assistant to PM, out of jubilation, has compared the convicted PM with Nelson Mandela, Gandhi and Aung San Suu Kyi saying whosoever will show loyalty, will be equated with Mandela, Gandhi and Suu Kyi.

Fawad Chaudhry, a scion of famous political party from Jhelum, was spokesman for Pervez Musharraf until a few months ago and was negotiating with Imran Khan to join Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, but all of a sudden joined PPP and within no time secured the slot of special assistant to the convicted prime minister for himself.

Within two months of joining the PPP, Fawad Chaudhry has achieved what many others could never do in their political careers spanning over decades and he has done it by defending the alleged corruption of PM’s son in ephedrine scandal.

Fawad Chaudhry, while talking to The News confirmed his appointment as special assistant to the convicted prime minister on political affairs. When asked how he was feeling after being appointed by a convicted PM, Fawad Chaudhry replied, “Nelson Mandela was also convicted, Gandhi was also convicted, Aung San Suu Kyi is also convicted so what happened if Yusuf Raza Gilani is also convicted.”

When told that the persons he named were men of character, Fawad said, “Everyone who shows loyalty is placed at high pedestal so is Yusuf Raza Gilani.”

When asked what advice he would give to the PPP prime minister who has been convicted by Supreme Court, Fawad said, “I will advise him on political affairs. We are here and the PM is also here and he is going nowhere.” Fawad spinned the question over writing letter to Swiss court against reopening of $60 million graft cases. However, he mentioned that the situation, after his arrival in the government ranks, will improve.

It is worth mentioning here that just a few months ago, journalists in Islamabad and Lahore would receive calls from Fawad Chaudhry who would tell them about latest activities of General (R) Pervez Musharraf.

Then he managed to establish links with Imran Khan and according to media reports in a meeting Imran Khan praised Fawad Chaudhry as one of the few members of the Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League and asked the participants whether he should be included in the PTI. Though Imran was snubbed by many top PTI leaders on this, but other leaders were shocked over the bent of Imran’s mind.

Meanwhile, on the morning of March 9, 2012 Fawad met Prime Minister Gilani and announced to join the PPP, shocking not only Musharraf and company but also his close friends. Since then, he is the mouthpiece of PM Gilani especially in the Rs7 billion corruption case allegedly involving Musa Gilani.