Musharraf hints at hung parliament

* President says he is ready to facilitate coalition govt
* Ready to quit if unpopular
* Says Pakistan a ‘victim of misconception’

LAHORE: President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday hinted at the possibility of a hung parliament emerging from the February elections, saying there might be a coalition government and the prime minister would run the affairs of the government.

Explaining his government’s plan on transition of power to a civilian set-up at the World Economic Forum, he said: “We have to go for coexistence in running the political affairs for the sake of stability and well-being of people.”

Coalition government: “I do not find any difficulty to work with any political party and if needed I will be prepared to facilitate forming a coalition government for the sake of harmony and success of the democratic process,” APP quoted him as saying.

In an interview with the Financial Times, he said he would be prepared to work with a prime minister who came from the Pakistan People’s Party.

“I have no choice. According to the Constitution, the president has certain powers, [but] the government is run by the prime minister of Pakistan,” he said.

He said the new parliament could throw him out with a two-thirds majority, but insisted his election for president was in line with Pakistan’s Constitution.

Will quit if unpopular: “The day I realise that I can’t contribute [for the country] and people don’t like me to continue, I will quit,” the president said in a brief interview with BBC television. “Obviously, the elections must be fair, free and transparent, and I’ve added a new word – ‘peaceful’,” Musharraf said earlier at the World Economic Forum. “We will make sure they are peaceful.”

He said democracy would strengthen after the elections and energise the fight against extremism and terrorism.

He said illiteracy and deprivation were root causes of terrorism and extremism, and developed states should help Pakistan overcome poverty.

Victim of misconception: He said Pakistan was “a victim of misconception and distortion”, and the world should judge Pakistan on economic progress and its fight against militancy, not on “idealistic, maybe unrealistic, Western perceptions of democracy”.

“Please, look at Pakistan from Pakistan eyes... not with the eyes of your misconceived Western views of human rights and democracy,” he added.

Talking to CNN, he said there was a degree of “intellectual arrogance” in the West, which thought developing countries could not run their affairs. In his interview with the Financial Times, he rejected suggestions from western analysts that Pakistani intelligence services were losing a grip on Al Qaeda supporting militants.

“The intelligence services are doing a good job,” he said, adding that the recent spate of suicide bombings were “an irritant”.

Also in the interview, he hit out at the retired generals who this week said that they no longer had confidence in him.

“They are insignificant personalities,” he said. “Most of them are ones who served under me and I kicked them out,” he added.

He said he knew his popularity had reduced but most Pakistanis still wanted him in office. “I get a feed from all segments of society ... I don’t make such judgements on individual statements,” he told BBC television.

“There is no clout in the army,” he said, and termed the retired officers as mere “paper tigers”.

President Musharraf insisted judges had been sacked for “corruption and nepotism” and said the independence of their replacements was not in question. In his interview with CNN, he said “four or five” people were inciting people of Pakistan to agitation. He said 75 percent of talk shows on television were against him. “I closed them down ... because some of them were inciting agitation,” he added.

“I don’t give much credence to Gallup polls in Pakistan at all,” he said during the interview.

To a question at the Forum, he said that the Kashmir issue had been put on sidetrack for a short period, but India and Pakistan intended to resolve the issue. He told the Wall Street Journal that there was “confusion” in the aftermath of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination as to how she was killed.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Thursday commended Pakistan’s contribution to the United Nations for peace and stability, during a meeting with President Musharraf.

In a meeting on Thursday, Musharraf and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi agreed that a re-structured Organisation of Islamic Conference could help resolve conflicts involving Muslim states.

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Regards

Aarwaa

Pakistan is ruled by three As - Army, America and Allah.