Six months after February 2008 elections, the then President, Pervez Musharraf was mulling replacing elected government with that of technocrats, a private TV channel reported quoting WikiLeaks cables. According to the channel, this was revealed in a US Islamabad embassy cable sent to Washington on July 25, 2008.
According to cable, Musharraf, in view of deterioration in relations between Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari, was certain that the two would part ways and in that case, Zardari would need some new allies. Under the circumstances, PML-Q could come forward for the purpose. However, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Asif Ali Zardari apprehended that they could be at political disadvantage by working with the former dictator. Musharraf requested the US government to assure Gilani that the US support for Musharraf would continue.