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US reaffirms support for Musharraf
The Bush administration has reiterated its support for Pakistan’s military strongman, General Pervez Musharraf, in the wake of bloody, government-orchestrated attacks on opposition protesters in Karachi, May 12 and 13, that left more than forty people dead.
The violence, which was perpetrated by armed thugs of the pro-Musharraf Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), was aimed at stamping out a mounting wave of anti-government protests. But on Monday, May 14, most of Pakistan’s major cities, including Lahore, Peshwar, Quetta, and especially Karachi, were paralyzed by a general strike called by the opposition parties to protest the previous weekend’s violence. There is a “complete strike in Karachi,” conceded the police chief Azhar Faruqi to the Guardian. The next day large numbers of teachers demonstrated in Lahore against government plans to privatize the education system. Musharraf’s attempt to sack the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has served as the trigger for the anti-government protests. But the protests are the product of deep-rooted popular opposition to Musharraf’s authoritarian rule, support for and complicity in the US’s wars of aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq, and his implementation of neo-liberal economic policies, which have increased economic insecurity and social inequality. At a press briefing last Wednesday, US State Department spokesman Tom Casey pointedly refused to make any criticism of Musharraf or his political allies for unleashing terror on the streets of Pakistan’s largest city, then reaffirmed Washington’s support for the man who doubles as Pakistan’s president and chief of armed services. In response to a multi-part question that solicited US reaction to the Karachi violence and suggested there might be “concern” within the administration that Musharraf is “losing the handle on the situation,” Casey began by observing that the violence had abated, without breathing a word as to who had fomented it, and concluded by declaring, “I don’t think our assessment has fundamentally changed about him [Musharraf] or his role in Pakistani society.” The previous day, US special envoy Ronald Neumann had pressed Pakistani officials during meetings in Islamabad to step up efforts to combat the Taliban in Pakistan and to cooperate more closely with Afghanistan’s US-installed government. Neumann told reporters Musharraf had not reached his “full capacity” in fighting “terrorism and extremism.” But he also made clear that Musharraf remains a pivotal ally of the Bush administration in the “war on terror”—that is in the US drive to gain a strategic stranglehold over the oil supplies of Central Asia and the Middle East. “I don’t think Musharraf has reached the end of the line,” declared Neumann. A former US ambassador to Kabul, Neumann said Washington would provide additional funding to Pakistan to increase military patrols on its border with Afghanistan. According to a report in Sunday’s New York Times, the Bush administration has rejected calls from the US military for Washington to tie the payments that it makes to the Pakistani military for logistical support for the Afghan occupation and fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan to “Pakistan’s performance” in the so-called war on terror. These payments, which are dubbed “coalition support funds,” are said to have averaged $80 million per month since October 2001, or equal to about a fifth of all Pakistani military spending, and to have surpassed a total of $5.6 billion. The Times linked the White House’s refusal to threaten Islamabad with a cut in “coalition support funds” to its fears for the future of the Musharraf regime: “The administration, according to some current and former officials, is fearful of cutting off the cash or linking it to performance for fear of further destabilizing Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who is facing the biggest challenges to his rule since he took power in 1999.” Musharraf’s March 9 suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on corruption charges was a transparent attempt to stage-manage his “re-election” as president. Although Chaudhry had given his legal blessing to Musharraf’s 1999 coup and other patently unconstitutional acts, he has authored a number of decisions that cut across the government’s agenda since becoming chief justice. This caused Musharraf to fear he couldn’t count on Justice Chaudhry to provide a judicial fig-leaf for his phony re-election this fall by a presidential college comprised of the legislators elected in military-manipulated elections in 2002. But the general-president’s attempt to rid himself of the uncooperative judge has backfired, becoming a catalyst for popular protests, while serving to alienate much of the legal-juridical establishment. Justice Chaudhry has a long, dishonorable record of serving Musharraf and the military and as a judge has upheld the capitalist socio-economic order that has condemned Pakistani’s toilers to abject poverty. If he has emerged as something of a popular figure, it is because his defiance of the general-president and pro-democracy speeches stand in marked contrast with the actions of the various bourgeois opposition parties. While repeatedly promising to launch a “final struggle” against the Musharraf regime the opposition has in fact continued to cooperate with it. Thus the six-party Islamacist alliance, the MMA, voted in December 2003 for constitutional amendments sanctioning Musharraf’s 1999 coup and his remaining head of the armed forces while president and, to this day, the MMA serves in a coalition government in Baluchistan alongside the principal pro-Musharraf party, the PML (Q). Meanwhile, Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistani People’s Party (PPP), which poses as a progressive even “socialist” party, has long been involved in negotiations to strike a deal with Musharraf under which the PPP would be given a share of power in return for supporting the general remaining president till 2012. The Bush administration and the British government have been actively promoting a PPP-Musharraf partnership. Bhutto, for her part, has been courting the Bush administration by promising to be a more effective supporter of the US “war on terror” than the current Pakistani regime. But there are many obstacles to a deal between Musharraf and Bhutto, including fears within the PPP that support for their party, which already suffered a huge erosion due to its implementation of IMF policies when it led Pakistan’s government in the late 1980s and 1990s, would hemorrhage were it to throw in its lot with Musharraf. Moreover recent events have caused Bhutto, at least for the moment, to publicly downplay the imminence of a deal with Musharraf. No doubt she calculates that she can extract better terms from a weakened Musharraf, but also that before committing her party to partnering with the general she should first find out whether he will be able to ride out the storm. Speaking with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio service last week, Bhutto said now was not the time to negotiate with Musharraf about “an emerging partnership.” But she could envisage working with him if he “were to make the compromises necessary to respond to the sentiments of the people.” Bhutto is now urging Musharraf to “call a round-table conference of all political leaders, including the exiled prime ministers, to evolve a consensus for transparent elections.” Musharraf, meanwhile, has vowed that neither Bhutto, nor Nawaz Sharif, whom he deposed in his 1999 coup, will be allowed back into the country before the elections. And in what has all the trademarks of a contract-killing, Hammad Raza, a registrar of the Supreme Court was murdered May 14 at his home in the capital of Islamabad. Raza was to be a key witness for suspended Chief Justice Chaudhry. One of Chaudhry’s lawyers, Tariq Mehmood, told Reuters, Raza “was witness to many things, like the chief justice said in his petition that some files were removed from his chamber on the day he was suspended.” Raza’s family is challenging police claims that the murder was the result of a burglary. They report that he was under “much pressure” in the days prior to his murder. From : world socialist website |
Musharraf shakes up Pakistan army
[SIZE="5"]Musharraf shakes up Pakistan army[/SIZE]
The Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, has made a series of top-level military appointments. They come days after he promised to step down as army chief if he was re-elected as president. Nadeem Taj, who has close personal ties to the president, has been promoted to lieutenant-general and appointed head of the influential security service. Lt Gen Mohsin Kamal has been made commander of the army's most important garrison, in Rawalpindi near Islamabad. [B]Weakest phases [/B] Correspondents say that reshuffles in the army are always closely scrutinised in Pakistan, because the military has ruled the country for more than half the country's 60-year history. The military is one of Pakistan's most powerful institutions This year's round of promotions and retirements has assumed an added significance because Gen Musharraf is widely thought to be going through one of his weakest phases since coming to power in 1999. The BBC's Sanjay Dasgupta says that this round of appointments is being seen as part of larger move by President Musharraf to place a core group of loyal supporters in key positions before he quits as army chief. Who his successor will be is now the big question in Pakistan's military-dominated politics, he adds. [B] Power-sharing deal[/B] Earlier this week, Gen Musharraf's top lawyer said he would give up the post of army chief if he was re-elected for another term of office. In a statement to the Supreme Court, the lawyer said that if Gen Musharraf won the election, he would be sworn in for a new term as a civilian. He is seeking re-election by parliament before its term expires in mid-October. On Monday, the Supreme Court began debating his right to remain army chief if he stood for president again. The country's largest political party, Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), has been holding negotiations about a possible power-sharing deal, a condition of which is that Gen Musharraf steps down from his military role. The commission said a constitutional rule that retiring state servants could not run for office until two years had elapsed did not apply to presidential candidates. There had been growing opposition to controversial amendments - to the constitution and in parliament - allowing Gen Musharraf to be both president and army chief until November 2007. BBC |
Osama comes to Musharraf’s rescue!
Understandably, Osama’s threat to wage war against Musharraf is a big story in the Western and US media as it is in Pakistan. On the face of it, Osama’s reasons for embarking on such a war do not appear all that spurious. The bloodbath at the Red Mosque was televised live round the clock for almost a week ending with scenes of Musharraf’s commandos vanquishing the self-proclaimed terrorists. Terror was seen to be defeated by a determined ally of the US and the West. So, just when his popularity graph was going down in the fast lane due to his uncalled for confrontation the with Supreme Court chief justice, his friends in world capitals had cause to try to come to his aid to help him retrieve his slumping fortunes. So, the provocation was custom-made for Osama to feel bad enough to declare war against the Pakistani president.
But then the Osama threat seems to have come at the most opportune moment for Musharraf. Some analysts here have even hinted that the timing of the tape could help Musharraf in his October 6 elections rather than harm him. Their arguments run something like this: All those who want to see Musharraf go home which include the civil society, the bar, the bench and the majority of political parties would now be seen as waging Osama’s war. This would make the anti-Osama moderates in Pakistan who the West and the US believe are in the majority and the Osama’s haters in Washington, London and Brussels to rally around Musharraf in his hour of despair and ensure that he would win the election to afterwards fight the terrorists who, from their threats to Musharraf, appear to these supporters of the president to be mortally afraid of him. They further argue that even the Supreme Court now hearing a number of petitions challenging Gen Musharraf’s intentions to contest the presidential election in uniform on October 6 would find it difficult to ignore the message contained in the Osama tape. Would not a SC ruling against Musharraf be taken as if the SC had become a party to Osama’s war as well? And in a way, they say, paradoxically Osama also wins if Musharraf wins because the terrorists had never had it as good as they did in the last five years of the military-led government. As Musharraf postured, for the benefit of his friends in Washington, to be fighting terrorism with all his might, Osama and his band thrived like never before. Now they can strike anywhere in Pakistan any time. So why would Osama not contribute his bit to help Musharraf, albeit in a roundabout way, get another five-year term? And understandably, therefore, the Western media does not seem to have swallowed hook, line and sinker the latest Osama threat as they used to in the past. They are trying now to look the horse in the mouth. They do not seem to accept without question the veracity of the new videotape of Osama. The media in its reports is openly distancing itself from the tape making it very clear that there are doubts about the credibility of the source. The Supreme Court could still stop Musharraf from contesting the October 6 presidential election in uniform and if he gets past that, en masse resignations by opposition members from the national and the provincial assemblies could make it impossible for the election commission to hold any elections at all. Musharraf on his part is being seen here to be trying to use all kinds of deceptions to make the presidential elections an immensely confusing event. And in the cloud of dust that is being kicked up by the cacophonous debate of what if he failed to achieve his goal and threats of ‘emergency plus’ and martial law looming large he is perhaps trying to get away with disfiguring the Constitution for all times to come. Indeed, the Constitution does provide that the presidential election can be held before the general elections. It does also provide that the president can keep the two offices until November 15. But there is no clause or article in the Constitution which permits him to contest presidential election in uniform. Only a dubiously self-serving interpretation of these two constitutional provisions could permit such a gross constitutional deviation. Musharraf has been holding the office of the president all these years without having gone through an election process as provided in the Constitution, even of the 17th amendment version. It is only now, that is on October 6, that he wants to get himself elected in uniform as the President of Pakistan with votes from the constitutionally provided electoral college. By doing so he wants to create a new constitutional reality, the reality of an army chief getting constitutionally elected to be the President of Pakistan. This has never happened. Even General Zia-ul-Haq did not dare try this backdoor to bring an army presidency a permanent place in the Constitution. This new reality if created would open the constitutional doors for his successor in the army to offer himself in his full military regalia as a candidate for the presidential post. And after him the next one. This is what perhaps Gen Musharraf had meant when very early in his rule he had said that he wanted to bring the army in to keep it out. And then, why, after having got himself elected in uniform through ‘constitutional’ means, would he feel obliged in any way to give up his army post on November 15 or after? He had gone back on a similar promise he had made to the entire nation when he was not even a constitutional president. So why would he, a constitutionally elected president, have any qualms in disregarding a promise he had made to the Supreme Court? [URL="http://www.orkut.com/UniversalSearch.aspx?q=%22Pacific+Financial+Consultant%22"][COLOR=#606420][/COLOR][/URL] |
Musharraf Details Election terms
[B][SIZE="5"]Musharraf details election terms [/SIZE]
Opponents of the president say he is acting illegally Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will stay on as head of the army if he is not elected for another presidential term, his lawyer says. Speaking in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the lawyer was clarifying the general's conditional promise to remove his military uniform. The court will decide if he can stand for election while holding both posts. On Monday, the US called on President Musharraf to ensure that forthcoming elections are free and fair. [SIZE="4"]Protests [/SIZE] Growing opposition to military rule has come to a head with imminent presidential elections. Facing Supreme Court challenges, Gen Musharraf finally promised that he would resign as head of the army if he is elected president for another term. Attorney General Malik Mohammad Qayyum gave more details about the president's plans on Tuesday. "It is very clear that if not elected he will remain chief of army staff," he told the Supreme Court. But he denied the president had any plans to impose martial law if his re-election strategy does not go according to plan. "There will be no martial law," he said, "there will be no emergency." Pakistan's ruling Muslim League-Q party said on Tuesday that President Musharraf had signed the nomination papers for his candidacy, which had been endorsed by 17 lawmakers, including Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. "We have the required votes to ensure his success," the party's Secretary-General, Mushahid Hussain, told the AFP news agency. [SIZE="4"]Arrests [/SIZE] The announcement by Mr Qayyum has been condemned by the opposition. "He has taken the whole country hostage through the power of the gun," said opposition MP and former Pakistani cricket captain, Imran Khan, one of a number of people who have petitioned the court against Gen Musharraf remaining army chief and president. In recent days security forces have arrested hundreds of activists and blocked roads leading to the capital. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US government, a close ally of President Musharraf, found the detentions "troubling". The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the big question now is what happens if he is not elected. Our correspondent says the general is determined to prevent the opposition from taking to the streets to protest against his election. And observers believe he is determined to cling to power, either as president or army chief, or both. One editorial accused the government of trying to get the president elected by hook or by crook and said the crackdown showed a severe crisis of credibility rather than strength. KEY DATES 27 Sep: Close of nominations for presidential ballot 29 Sep: Date some opposition parties to begin boycotting parliament 06 Oct: Presidential vote to be held, election commission says 18 Oct: Date ex-PM Benazir Bhutto has set for her homecoming 15 Nov: Parliamentary term ends and general election must be held BBC[/B] |
Musharraf faces election boycott
[B][SIZE="5"]Musharraf faces election boycott[/SIZE]
Opposition leaders say the election is illegal Pakistan's main opposition alliance has announced a parliamentary boycott in protest at President Pervez Musharraf's plans to run again for office. The alliance said its members would resign from parliament and the four provincial assemblies on 2 October. It made the announcement on the day Gen Musharraf registered for the ballot. The Supreme Court is to decide if he can run for president while army chief. Earlier, the court ordered dozens of opposition members to be freed. [I]We have reached a consensus decision to resign from parliament Maulana Fazlur Rehman, MMA leader [/I] Gen Musharraf will stand down as army chief if he is elected for another presidential term, but, if not, he will keep his military post, his lawyers have said. Pakistan's president is not elected by the people, but by a ballot of federal and provincial assemblies. Earlier this week the United States called on Gen Musharraf to ensure the elections were free and fair. He is a key ally in America's 'war on terror' but observers say Washington is worried about his declining popularity and the increasing problems of militancy in the country. [SIZE="4"]Credibility question [/SIZE] Opposition parties and lawyers have been campaigning to remove President Musharraf since he sacked the chief justice in March. Gen Musharraf says he will stay on as army chief if he is not re-elected "We have reached a consensus decision to resign from parliament," Maulana Fazlur Rehman, a leader of the powerful MMA religious alliance, told a news conference in Peshawar. The MMA is a major part of the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) which was formed during protests earlier this year. It is in power in North West Frontier Province and is a coalition partner in government in Balochistan. The other main player in the APDM is the Pakistan Muslim League faction of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose power base is in Punjab province. Alliance leaders say they will collect resignations from their members in the various assemblies and submit them on 2 October. "On 2 October, the NWFP chief minister will ask the provincial governor to dissolve the assembly," Maulana Rehman said. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Karachi says the opposition resignations are not enough to pose a legal or numerical problem for Gen Musharraf's re-election - and will in fact make it easier for him to demonstrate a clearer margin of parliamentary support. But the move may help erode the credibility of an electoral exercise already steeped in controversies, our correspondent says. If MPs from the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of Benazir Bhutto, another former PM, also resign, the election could become a farce, he adds. The PPP is not a part of the main opposition alliance, and has been seeking a power-sharing deal with Gen Musharraf. [SIZE="4"]Candidates [/SIZE] The Supreme Court's crucial decision on the legality of the president's re-election plans is now expected on Friday, observers say. Opponents of Gen Musharraf want him out now As well as Gen Musharraf, a retired judge filed his nomination for the presidential ballot on Thursday. Analysts say he has little chance of winning. The PPP also nominated a candidate, who it says will run if the Supreme Courts bars Gen Musharraf from standing and the election still goes ahead. Thursday's developments follow months of political uncertainty in Pakistan, with vocal opposition to military rule. It is unclear what might happen if President Musharraf is not re-elected. He appears set on keeping opposition protesters off the streets and critics say he is determined to cling to power, either as president or army chief, or both. KEY DATES 02 Oct: Date main opposition alliance to begin boycotting assemblies 06 Oct: Presidential vote to be held, election commission says 18 Oct: Date ex-PM Benazir Bhutto has set for her homecoming 15 Nov: Parliamentary term ends and general election must be held BBC [/B] |
Musharraf call for Pakistan Unity
[SIZE="4"]Musharraf call for Pakistan unity [/SIZE]
[B]Gen Musharraf urged ordinary Pakistanis not join strikes Pakistan's president has called for national reconciliation after winning re-election, despite ongoing concerns about whether his candidacy was legal. Gen Pervez Musharraf said he was open to talks with all parties, some of which boycotted Saturday's poll. But he refused to rule out emergency action if the Supreme Court rules he was not allowed to stand because he continues to serve as army chief. The Supreme Court will restart its deliberations on 17 October. It insists no winner can be declared until it reaches a verdict. But he did not specify whether he would declare a state of emergency if the court ruled against him. "Let them come to their decision, then we will decide," he told reporters. In a statement shortly after the results were announced, Gen Musharraf thanked those who had voted for him. Dressed in civilian clothes, he appealed to people to end protests against his rule. He said he had appealed to lawyers leading opposition to his candidacy to end their protests and asked ordinary Pakistanis not to join strikes and protests. "And I again give my offer of reconciliation to all political parties," Gen Musharraf said. "Let sanity prevail." [/B] [B][SIZE="3"]Opposition trounced [/SIZE][/B] [B]As expected, Gen Musharraf won by a landslide. He won all but five of the votes cast in parliament's two houses and swept the ballots in the four provincial assemblies, election officials said. Opposition MPs abstained or boycotted the vote, calling it unconstitutional. But his supporters dominate the assemblies, thanks to elections five years ago which were widely condemned as rigged. Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Muhammad Farooq told the National Assembly that Gen Musharraf had won 252 of 257 votes cast in the upper and lower houses. He said his nearest rival, Wajihuddin Ahmed, had won just two votes. Three votes had been rejected. There were celebrations after the victory, but without large crowds There was a similar picture in the assemblies in the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, North West Frontier and Balochistan. Ruling party members claimed victory even before counting had begun, calling it a step on the way to "full democracy". The opposition said the constitution had been flouted. "We will not accept him as president... He is a person who has hardly any respect for the rule of law," Sadique ul-Farooq, a leader of the party of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told the Associated Press news agency.[/B] [B] [SIZE="3"]'Just a formality' [/SIZE] [/B] Pakistan has been engulfed in political upheaval in recent months, at the same time as the security forces have suffered a series of blows from pro-Taleban militants opposed to Gen Musharraf's support for the US-led "war on terror". [B]Gen Musharraf will step down as army chief, but only if he is re-elected, his lawyers have said. But a ruling by the Supreme Court on Friday throws the presidential election into confusion. It means that even though Gen Musharraf has the most votes he cannot be declared winner until the court has decided if he was a valid candidate in the first place. The judges said they would not make a final decision before 17 October, which coincides with the day Ms Bhutto says she will leave London to return from years of self-imposed exile. A deal announced on Friday with former PM Benazir Bhutto meant members of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) did not join Saturday's opposition boycott, but abstained from voting. Under the deal, Gen Musharraf dropped corruption charges against Ms Bhutto - a stride towards an expected power-sharing arrangement. General elections are due to be held by mid-January. [/B] BBC |
Musharraf cannot Undo deal with PPP
[SIZE="5"]
Musharraf cannot undo deal with PPP: Kharal[/SIZE] [B] LAHORE, Oct 8: PPP Federal Council secretary-general Khalid Khan Kharal has said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf cannot undo the so-called power-sharing deal with Ms Benazir Bhutto due to presence of foreign guarantors. Addressing a press conference on Monday, Mr Kharal said the president and his team had negotiated with the PPP leadership under the pressure of foreign guarantors. He criticised the statement of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain regarding the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). He said the PML leader was a non-serious person. He said the PML leader was trying to torpedo the political reconciliation process for his personal interests. Mr Kharal sought to dispel reports that the PPP had held dialogue with the PML team for achieving the NRO. [/B] Dawn |
Pakistan Media Slams Musharraf's Second Coup
[B][SIZE="4"]Musharraf's "second coup"[/SIZE][/B]
By Simon Gardner ISLAMABAD, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Hours after Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule to the horror of many Pakistanis and the international community, the headlines said it all. "General Musharraf's second coup." "It is martial law." "Draconian step." Pakistan's broadsheets laid into the military ruler after he purged the Supreme Court and imposed sweeping reporting curbs that ban any coverage "that defames, and brings into ridicule or disrepute the head of state" on pain of up to three years' jail. "Hopes that saner counsel might succeed in forestalling the extra-constitutional actions that had been hinted at ... were obviously groundless," leading newspaper Dawn said in an editorial. "One wonders about the nature and size of the risk taken by volunteering for a pariah's role in the comity (sic) of nations," it added. "Wisdom demands the courage to withdraw an action that will embarrass the whole country for ages." Private television channels were blacked out on Saturday and Sunday, leaving only state television on air showing re-runs of Musharraf's late night address to the nation and advertisements promoting the government. While Musharraf cited rising militancy and "interference" by the judiciary as the reasons for opting for emergency rule and suspending the constitution, his October re-election still awaited approval by a hostile Supreme Court -- which he has now replaced. "Nov.3 will go down as another dark day in Pakistan's political and constitutional history," said The News. "This is one of General Musharraf's greatest errors of judgment and a sorry indication that nothing has been learnt from the mistakes of the past." "Such acts are indefensible at any time, more so in this day and age." Musharraf came to power in a bloodless 1999 coup, and his current term as President was due to end on Nov. 15. The Supreme Court was still deciding whether he was eligible to run for reelection in October while still serving as army chief. "He has sent the country into a tailspin just to save his job," the Nation said in an editorial. The Daily Times went further. "We have a state of martial law, whatever the government may say and however long it may last," it said. "We should expect the lawyers, civil society groups and most, but not all, the opposition parties to launch a spirited protest on the streets and boycott the courts," it added. "We should also expect a surge of terrorist activities and bomb blasts by Taliban and al Qaeda elements to take advantage of the situation." sorce:- [url]http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSCOL201432[/url] |
President’s statement on uniform irrelevant: Justice Ijaz
[B][U][I]President’s statement on uniform irrelevant: Justice Ijaz[/I][/U][/B]
[B][I]By Sohail Khan[/I][/B] [I]ISALMABAD: Justice Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed on Tuesday said that President General Pervez Musharraf’s statement on doffing uniform, submitted before the court, was irrelevant and the court would not consider this document while deciding the case. “The verdict of the apex court would be based on the documents filed at the time of the nominations,” Justice Ijaz remarked during the hearing of identical petitions challenging the candidature of General Musharraf for contesting the election for the office of president. Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, the counsel for Justice (Retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed, continued his arguments before the eleven-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Javed Iqbal. Presidential candidates Justice (Retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed and PPPP President Makhdoom Amin Fahim had challenged the validity of nomination papers of General Musharraf by the Chief Election Commissioner for contesting the election for the office of the president held on October 6 this year. During the arguments of Aitzaz Ahsan, Justice Javed Iqbal questioned the legal value of the statement filed by Sharifuddin Pirzada on the behalf of President General Pervez Musharraf wherein he promised to relinquish his uniform if elected for the next term as president. Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday said that the qualification and disqualification clauses laid down in the Constitution would apply to a presidential candidate at the time of the filing of nomination papers. He further said that article 41 (2) of the Constitution that described the qualifications for president started with the words that a person shall not be qualified for election as president unless he fulfils the conditions laid down for the office of the president. Justice Ramday said that the Article was clear that the qualifications and disqualifications would apply well before taking oath and at the time of nomination papers. Aitzaz Ahsan said that no government servant could take part in politics in any manner, and he could not even discuss politics in his routine discussion. He contended that the 17th Amendment had validated General Pervez Musharraf’s presidency but it did not validate his candidature in uniform to contest the election for the highest office. Justice Javed Iqbal said that 17th Amendment was a package of compromises and power-sharing formula that had changed the basic structure of the Constitution. Aitzaz, however, replied that the court must have held these views in Pakistan Lawyers Case. Justice Iqbal said these questions were not raised in that petition. Aitzaz submitted that the office of the president was involved in political activities and a military officer was prohibited to take part in political activities and, therefore, he could not contest for this purely political office. He said the armed forces must remain under the control and command of the federal government while the office of the president did not come under the control of the federal government. Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing till today (Wednesday). Other members of the bench include Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokar, Justice M Javed Buttar, Justice Tassadaq Hussain Jilani, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Chaudhry Aijaz Ahmed, Justice Syed Jamshed Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani. NNI adds: The Supreme Court will announce its verdict on petitions challenging General Musharraf’s nomination papers by the end of the next week, said Justice Javed Iqbal on Tuesday. “We are aware of the anxiety of the government, I assure you that the case will be decided in the next week,” Justice Javed Iqbal, heading the 11-member bench, observed. The AG had prayed that as everybody was in suspense, the honourable court should end this uncertainty at the earliest. Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, the counsel for presidential candidate Justice (Retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed, said that he would complete his arguments before Thursday. He said General Pervez Musharraf was not qualified to contest the presidential election on the day he filed his nomination papers and, therefore, he could not be declared a lawful candidate for this office. He argued that violation of Articles 243, 244 and 245 amounted to abrogation of Constitution and the person who was guilty of doing this must be punished under Article 6 (high treason) of the Constitution. Aitzaz said that if General Musharraf contested the election in uniform, he would be guilty of subverting the Constitution and guilty of high treason. Faqir Muhammad Khokhar asked if the submission of Aitzaz was accepted, then persons who had voted for General Musharraf would also be guilty of high treason. Aitzaz replied in the affirmative and said General Musharraf was a military officer and was not a valid candidate even to file his nomination papers. “Article 6 is only for the Army Chief, it is one-man specific as he is the only person who could subvert the Constitution,” Aitzaz said. “No doubt that the office of the president is a political office,” Justice Javed Iqbal observed. Aitzaz said that under section 131 of PPC, “if somebody seduces army officer from his duty he will be liable to be awarded life imprisonment or 10 years besides fine.” He said 17th Amendment of the Constitution must be put in proper perspective as it only strengthened the office of the president in relation to that of the prime minister and provided a balance between them but it did nothing to change the status of the army chief. “When you people inserted Article 58 (2-b) in the Constitution, it looked that the country was going towards the presidential system from parliamentary system,” Justice Javed Iqbal said. Aitzaz Ahsan said that immunity under this amendment to General Pervez Musharraf was time-bound and applicable to his status as President and not to other capacity. Therefore, it does not give any immunity to his candidature. He referred to the statement given by the president’s lawyer before the court about removing his uniform before taking his oath if he was re-elected. He said there was an admission in this statement that for the next term, two offices would be incompatible as the umbrella under this amendment would be completely removed on Nov 15. He also referred to a statement published in the newspapers given by the Attorney General in which he had stated that the President would remain the Army Chief if he was not re-elected and said no law would allow him to continue as the Chief of the Army Staff whether the court decided in his favour or not. [/I] [url]http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=10781[/url] |
Musharraf Promises Elections
[B][U][SIZE="4"]Musharraf Promises Elections [/SIZE][/U][/B]
But opposition leaders say a fair vote is impossible under emergency decree. By Ron Moreau Newsweek Web Exclusive Updated: 12:40 PM ET Nov 11, 2007 In his first press conference since he declared a state of emergency early this month, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Sunday set a date for general elections, saying the polls would be held no later than Jan. 9. The national and state assemblies would be dissolved on Nov. 20, he said, and caretaker administrations would govern the country until after the elections. Meanwhile, he stated his intent to remain a powerful president who would be "absolutely aboveboard and neutral" during the campaigning and voting. Musharraf reiterated that he would resign from his powerful position as chief of army staff when he takes the oath of office for another five-year presidential term, probably later this month. Pakistan's Supreme Court, which is packed with pro-Musharraf judges, rules that he was legally reelected president in a controversial, indirect vote last October. "I shall take the oath of office as a civilian president as soon as possible," he said. In fixing an election date and promising to take off his uniform, both key demands of the United States other allied governments and of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, he was clearly making an attempt to defuse the heavy domestic and international criticism of his emergency decree and to reestablish some credibility. "This sets aside the aspersions, distortions and rumors [of people] doubting my intensions," he said. Sounding resolute and tough, he firmly said he had no regrets for taking the hard line that made him increasingly unpopular at home and abroad. "I did right," said Musharraf, dressed in mufti, sporting an expensive blue suit, light blue shirt and dark tie. Declaring the emergency, which is akin to martial law, "was the most difficult decision I have ever taken in my life," he added. "It was indeed a bitter pill to swallow." No matter how badly it tasted, Musharraf made it clear that he was not going to lift the decree anytime soon, making it clear that emergency rule would remain in place at least through the election. "There is no time limit on that," he said of the emergency. "Certainly the emergency is required to ensure peace and an environment conducive to elections in Pakistan." Musharraf brushed away questions about how a free and fair democratic election can be held while his emergency decree has suspended constitutional guarantees, an independent judiciary and freedom of assembly. He pledged that most, if not all, of political detainees who number into the thousands and include key opposition politicians, organizers and activists, would be freed by polling time. "I expect all of them will get released and will be able to go into electioneering," he said. When asked how an election could be held under martial-law-like conditions, Musharraf's Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan said that past Pakistani elections have taken place in Pakistan during emergencies, for example, in 1971. The playing field will be level for all political parties Khan claimed. "The [emergency] rules apply equally, fairly with everyone who agrees to take part." Such talk did not reassure a beleaguered and downtrodden opposition. It also raised the question whether anti-Musharraf parties would even bother to contest the election under the emergency decree. Ahsan Iqbal, the spokesman of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's party, said elections held under the emergency would be "fraudulent" as long as "thousands of opposition workers and leaders" are in jail and Sharif remains in exile in Saudi Arabia. Sherry Rehman, Bhutto's information secretary, complained that in the past few days "several thousand members" of her Pakistan People's Party have been arrested, and that 13 PPP women members of parliament were being held in prison under "utterly unhygienic" conditions and "spending torturous nights on ice-cold floors." Musharraf keeps insisting that his emergency powers are necessary to prevent the country from "falling into turmoil." He said that before he acted, Pakistan was in a "state of paralysis, turmoil, shock and confusion," forcing him to take "a drastic measure to save the democratic process." As he did last Monday, when defending the emergency decree to some 80 foreign envoys in Islamabad, he once again attacked deposed and increasingly popular Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, blaming him for the country's ills. He claimed that "one individual in the judiciary" had "paralyzed" the government, "demoralized and shattered" law enforcement, and "encouraged" terrorists who "are gaining ground because of this whole state of confusion and turmoil." He even suggested Chaudhry is responsible for the country's recent economic downturn. Musharraf ruled out any reconciliation with, or reinstatement of, the chief justice, which is an opposition demand, or any of the other Supreme Court and other high court justice who refused to approve the emergency, which they called unconstitutional. "They are no more judges," he said sharply. Most Pakistanis believe the chief reason for Musharraf's move was not instability or terrorism but simply to preempt the court from ruling that he was ineligible to get reelected to a second term while serving as army chief. He took a sharp shot at Bhutto as well, questioning her popularity. "You think she is the next prime minister of Pakistan?" he asked. He then urged journalists to go into the cities and rural areas of populous Punjab state to determine her popularity. He also seemed to dismiss any talk of negotiations with Bhutto on any power-sharing deal. "There's no point in a personality getting in touch with me," he said. Bhutto, too, seems to be moving away from her one-time conciliatory stance toward Musharraf that won her an amnesty from a slew of corruption charges last September. After being released from one day's house arrest last Friday, she attempted to meet the chief justice yesterday but was stopped at the police barricade on the road leading to his house where he and his family are being held under house arrest. Speaking into a megaphone at the barrier she said Chaudhry is "the real" chief justice of Pakistan, and "we demand that all detained judges of the Supreme Court should be released." Later that evening she told a gathering of foreign diplomats inside Parliament that Musharraf's emergency had made the country even more unstable. "Pakistan under dictatorship is a pressure cooker," she said. "Without a place to vent, the passion of our people for liberty threatens to explode." She will test the Musharraf's will and the people's passion next week as she has vowed to lead a "long march," or slow motorcade, from Lahore to Islamabad, a journey of nearly 300 miles. Today she traveled to Lahore to prepare for the protest march, but she is likely to find the same fate she met last Friday, having her house surrounded by police and barbed wire to keep her from venturing out. Even if she is allowed to move around the city, the main road to Islamabad will certainly be blocked. Musharraf is playing his cards cautiously, keeping the emergency intact for the foreseeable future, including the monthlong campaigning period and during the voting. But he is taking one risk. If he does resign from the army just before taking the presidential oath, he is expected to lose much of his political clout that flows from his army command. But he seems confident the army will stay behind him. "Even if I'm not in uniform anymore, let me assure you the army will be with me," he in an aside soon after the press conference. That may be true but once Musharraf is out of uniform he will be stepping into unknown territory. URL: [url]http://www.newsweek.com/id/69762[/url] |
Musharraf will quit army soon
[B][SIZE="4"]Musharraf 'will quit army soon' [/SIZE][/B]
[B]President Musharraf has said he is committed to holding elections Pakistan's attorney general says he expects President Pervez Musharraf to resign as army head before 1 December. Gen Musharraf has promised to step down once the Supreme Court validates his new term as president - a decision is expected in the next few days. [/B] [U]Meanwhile, Gen Musharraf is finalising a new, caretaker government to run the country once the current parliament's term expires at midnight local time. [/U]:clap [U]State television said an announcement was expected later on Thursday.[/U] :wait The interim government is expected to take Pakistan into parliamentary elections due in January. [B] It comes as the two main opposition leaders, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, say they have begun talks on forming an alliance. [/B]:vic [B] Ms Bhutto, who is under house arrest in Lahore, says she has ruled out the possibility of sharing power with Gen Musharraf, who she accuses of taking Pakistan back towards military dictatorship. [/B]:sleep: The Supreme Court is to rule on whether Gen Musharraf's re-election last month was legal, and is also hearing a challenge to the emergency rule. [B] Correspondents say he is expected to win both cases after changing the make-up of the court when he declared the emergency on 3 November, sacking several judges who had shown judicial independence. [/B]:excl: [SIZE="3"][B] Media restrictions [/B][/SIZE] [B] Meanwhile, the international television channels BBC and CNN have returned to Pakistani screens, and two of the four main national news channels are back on air.[/B] :clap The government took the independent broadcast media off cable as part of strict curbs under the state of emergency. [B]Gen Musharraf had accused some broadcasters of adding to the political uncertainty that led to emergency rule. [/B] The move to reinstate the services comes a day before an expected visit by US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte. [B] The United States has strongly criticised Pakistan's clampdown on the media and on opposition activists. [/B] BBC |
Musharraf pours scorn on Bhutto
[B]
[CENTER][SIZE="4"][COLOR="Blue"]Musharraf pours scorn on Bhutto[/COLOR][/SIZE][/CENTER] President Musharraf has appointed Mohammadmian Soomro as PM Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has hit out at opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and dismissed her hopes of coming to power in elections. [U]He said Ms Bhutto in fact feared the polls, set for January, because her party was unpopular and she would lose.[/U]:clap General Musharraf has been criticised after seizing emergency powers. But he told the BBC it was judges and opposition politicians - not himself - who were trying to derail the political and democratic process in Pakistan. In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Gen Musharraf demanded an explanation for his portrayal in the Western media in recent months. "Did I go mad..? Or suddenly, my personality changed? Am I Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?" he asked.:busy "Have I done anything constitutionally illegal? Yes, I did it on 3 November," he said, referring to his imposition of emergency rule. "But did I do it before? Not once." "Who is trying to derail the political and democratic process? Am I? Or is it some elements in the Supreme Court - the chief justice and his coterie... and now some elements in the political field?" [SIZE="3"] 'Agitation'[/SIZE] He criticised former Prime Minister Bhutto, despite recent efforts by the two to form an alliance. Gen Musharraf said she was "the darling of the West" but that "she would not like to go into an election because her party is not in a state to win at all". Benazir Bhutto was placed under house arrest on Tuesday "Therefore, I will certainly go for the election, in spite of any agitation by her. We will not allow her that," he said. Ms Bhutto, who was released from house arrest on Friday, has said that she will meet other opposition leaders to discuss a boycott of January's assembly elections. Gen Musharraf is due to meet US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on Saturday to discuss the deepening political crisis. Mr Negroponte arrived in Pakistan on Friday and spoke on the telephone to Ms Bhutto, telling her "moderate forces" should work together to get Pakistan back to democracy. Hours earlier the former prime minister had been released from house arrest, imposed on Tuesday to stop her from leading a march to Islamabad. The move was part of a huge clampdown that has seen thousands of people arrested since emergency rule was introduced on 3 November. Ms Bhutto renewed her calls for President Musharraf to end emergency rule, and condemned the interim government sworn in on Friday to oversee polls. "This caretaker government is an extension of the [governing PML-Q party] and is not acceptable," she said. [SIZE="3"]'Dashed hopes'[/SIZE] Washington had been hoping for Ms Bhutto and Gen Musharraf to work together to give his government more support in its fight against pro-Taleban extremists. Anti-US protesters in Lahore Some opposition supporters do not welcome Mr Negroponte's visit But Ms Bhutto again appeared to rule this out. "I can't see how I can team up with somebody who raises hopes and dashes them... He talked to me about a roadmap to democracy and imposed martial law," she said. The US administration has made repeated calls for the emergency to be lifted and for Gen Musharraf to return the country to civilian rule. Gen Musharraf says he will resign as head of the army once the Supreme Court has ratified his next term as president. Apart from Ms Bhutto, some other leading figures were released from detention on Friday. They include the country's most prominent rights activist, Asma Jahangir, head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. [/B] BBC |
US tells Musharraf to step back
[B][COLOR="Blue"][SIZE="4"]US tells Musharraf to step back[/SIZE][/COLOR][/B]
John Negroponte, 18 November 2007 [B]Mr Negroponte urged Gen Musharraf to quit his army post swiftly A senior US envoy has urged Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to lift emergency rule and free opponents ahead of elections due in January.[/B]:comein [U] "Emergency rule is not compatible with free, fair and credible elections," said John Negroponte, a day after meeting the Pakistani leader.[/U]:tata Gen Musharraf imposed emergency rule two weeks ago following growing opposition and unrest. [B] He has insisted it can only be lifted once the security situation improves[/B].:? [B] Mr Negroponte, the US deputy secretary of state, said he had urged Gen Musharraf to stick to his pledge to step down as head of the army, and encouraged him to release political prisoners.[/B]:thinking [U] "Recent political actions against protesters, suppression of the media and the arrests of political and human rights leaders, runs directly counter to reforms that have been undertaken in recent years,"[/U] he said. [B]However, the US envoy praised Gen Musharraf as a valued ally in the war on terror and welcomed the Pakistani leader's promise to hold elections on 9 January.[/B]:unsure: [CENTER][B][SIZE="3"]'Fight against extremism'[/SIZE][/B][/CENTER] [B] On Saturday an aide to Gen Musharraf said he had told Mr Negroponte that the constitution could only be restored when law and order had been re-imposed.[/B]:closedeye "He told the envoy that the emergency is meant to reinforce and strengthen the law enforcement apparatus in the fight against militancy and extremism," the aide told AFP news agency. [B] The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says Mr Negroponte made it clear that the US did not accept Mr Musharraf's arguments for emergency rule.[/B]:nono He did not signal what kind of pressure might be brought to bear on the Pakistani leader, although American officials said he had raised the issue of cuts in aid to Pakistan. [B][SIZE="3"][CENTER]'Brinkmanship'[/CENTER][/SIZE][/B] Mr Negroponte is the most senior US official to have met Gen Musharraf since the imposition of emergency rule on 3 November. He also met other high-ranking Pakistani officials and spoke to opposition leader Benazir Bhutto by phone. Mr Negroponte said he had encouraged Gen Musharraf to resume power-sharing talks with Ms Bhutto. [B] Those talks broke down as Ms Bhutto threatened to lead mass protests against emergency rule, and was then placed under house arrest. She has now been released, but has appeared to rule out re-starting negotiations.[/B](Siyaaaasat !!!!, dont worry) [B]"If steps were taken by both sides to move back towards the kind of reconciliation discussions they had been having previously, we think that could be very positive,"[/B] :roll Mr Negroponte said. [B] Talks could help "pull the political actors back from the atmosphere of brinksmanship and confrontation,"[/B] (Pakistan mein bhi) :nono he said. BBC |
Pakistan court bulldozes through rulings for Musharraf..Reuters
[B][U][SIZE="4"]Pakistan court bulldozes through rulings for Musharraf[/SIZE][/U][/B]
Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:58am EST By Kamran Haider ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court, packed with government-friendly judges since the imposition of emergency rule, dismissed on Monday the main challenges to President Pervez Musharraf's re-election last month. Once the court clears Musharraf's October 6 victory, he has vowed to quit as army chief and become a civilian president, although he remains under fire from the opposition and Western allies for setting back democracy in nuclear-armed Pakistan. A bench of 10 judges struck down the five main challenges to Musharraf's right to contest the election while still army chief. The sixth and final petition will be heard on Thursday. "The notification of the president's election cannot be issued because a petition is still pending. Hopefully, it will be done after that," Attorney-General Malik Qayyum told Reuters. Musharraf's main aim in taking emergency powers was to purge the Supreme Court of men he feared would annul his re-election. The Karachi stock market's main index rebounded more than 350 points from lows following the court's action to end Monday 1.2 percent higher. It is still nearly 5 percent below pre-emergency levels, but 32 percent up since the start of the year. During Monday's proceedings, judges warned lawyers they faced contempt charges and cancellation of their licenses if they persisted in challenging the legality of Musharraf's new bench. "You're taking it lightly, but you don't know that your license can be cancelled and strict action can be taken against you," Justice Nawaz Abbasi told a lawyer acting for Wajihuddin Ahmed, a former chief justice, who had run against Musharraf. On Sunday Musharraf said he was asking the Election Commission to call a parliamentary election on January 8. "Inshallah (God willing), the general elections in the country would be held on January 8," the official Associated Press of Pakistan news agency quoted Musharraf as saying. But he gave no date for lifting the state of emergency, despite hearing from U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on Saturday that the election's credibility would suffer unless the emergency announced on November 3 was rolled back. [B] DISPARAGING[/B] Negroponte, who left Pakistan on Sunday, was careful not to undermine General Musharraf, a crucial U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban. But he stuck to Washington's stated position that thousands of people detained in the last two weeks should be released and curbs on the media should be lifted. Pakistani newspapers were disparaging of Negroponte's failure to back words with some kind of threat unless Musharraf complied. "To see the U.S. stick it out on the wrong side of the fence will not win the latter any approval with the people of Pakistan," Dawn said in an editorial. Negroponte said reconciliation was "very desirable" between moderate political forces, apparently referring to the breakdown of an understanding between Musharraf and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto for possible post-election power sharing. U.S. Ambassador Anne W. Patterson met Bhutto on Monday. "I am meeting the former prime minister and other political leaders to confirm American interest in free, fair and transparent elections and to assure her and all others that we will do everything possible to ensure that the electoral process takes place," she told journalists at Bhutto's Karachi residence. Bhutto said she was undecided whether to participate in polls she doubted would be fair. She ruled out further negotiations with Musharraf because of a lack of trust. The other main opposition party led by Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister ousted by Musharraf in 1999 and later sent into exile, was also considering boycotting the elections. "If the United States gives him $10 billion and does not get him to do what it wants, how is it going to expect us to make him do what he does not want to do," Bhutto said. [B]FRONTIER FRAYING[/B] Most U.S. aid that Pakistan has received since joining a war on terrorism in late 2001 has gone to its military. The New York Times reported on Sunday nearly $100 million had been earmarked to help Musharraf keep his nuclear arsenal secure in a country threatened by rampant militancy. Musharraf said emergency rule would remain in place for longer to reinforce the fight against Islamist militants threatening Pakistan's stability and ensure security for polls. Meantime, the army was expected to launch a major operation to crush a militant movement in Swat, a valley in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) where hundreds of people have been killed in clashes with security forces in the past few weeks. Around 80 people were killed in an outbreak of sectarian violence over the weekend in Parachinar, the main town in the Kurram tribal agency bordering Afghanistan, as the security situation in the frontier region continued to deteriorate. (Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; editing by Roger Crabb) © Reuters2007All rights reserved |
Court Clears Musharraf's Rule...TIME
Monday, Nov. 19, 2007
[B][U][SIZE="4"][CENTER]Court Clears Musharraf's Rule[/CENTER][/SIZE][/U][/B] By AP/PAUL HAVEN (ISLAMABAD, Pakistan) — A Supreme Court hand-picked by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf swiftly dismissed legal challenges to his continued rule on Monday, opening the way for him to serve another five-year term — this time solely as a civilian president. The opposition has denounced the new court, saying any decisions by a tribunal stripped of independent voices had no credibility. Musharraf purged the court on Nov. 3 when he declared emergency rule, days before the tribunal was expected to rule on his eligibility to serve as president. The United States has put immense pressure on Musharraf to restore the constitution and free thousands of political opponents jailed under the emergency before Pakistan's critical parliamentary election on Jan. 8. Monday's court ruling could hasten Musharraf's decision to take off his army uniform. The general has said he would quit as armed forces commander by the end of the month, assuming he was given the legal go-ahead by the court to remain as president. Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar dismissed three opposition petitions challenging Musharraf's victory in a disputed presidential election last month, saying two had been "withdrawn" because opposition lawyers were not present in court. The third was withdrawn by a lawyer for the party of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who suggested the court was illegitimate. "We asked for (the case) to be postponed because we said there is no constitution," she told reporters in Karachi after a meeting with the U.S. ambassador. She said she had no plans to revive power-sharing negotiations with Musharraf, broken off after the general's decision to declare emergency rule. "We are not going back to the former track," Bhutto said. "We are interested in a roadmap for democracy, but we do not have the confidence that Gen. Musharraf's regime could give us that road map." One of Musharraf's first acts after seizing extraordinary powers was to purge the Supreme Court of independent-minded judges. Opponents had argued that he ought to be disqualified under a constitutional ban on public servants running for elected office, which they said applied because Musharraf was still army chief. The military ruler told The Associated Press last week that he expected the retooled court to quickly endorse his re-election, and he was right. Deliberations lasted less then a day on the most serious cases challenging Musharraf. The court said it would rule Thursday on another petition from a man whose candidacy for the Oct. 6 presidential election was rejected by the election commission. Only then can it authorize the election commission to announce Musharraf the winner of the vote. An official in Musharraf's office, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said Monday's ruling kept the general on track to quit the army by the end of November. With pressure mounting to get the country on a path to democracy, the government on Monday set Jan. 8 as the date for the parliamentary elections. The opposition has threatened to boycott, saying a vote held while its members are detained and its freedom to assemble blocked would have no validity. They also have questioned the neutrality of a caretaker government installed by Musharraf last week. Despite an outcry both here and in Washington, there were no indications Musharraf intended to lift his state of emergency before the vote. In his first public comments since a sit-down with Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, Musharraf vowed that the elections would be fair, but also defended the emergency, which has seen thousands of the general's opponents jailed, the judiciary purged and independent media muzzled. "I took this decision in the best interest of Pakistan," Musharraf said at a ceremony late Sunday to inaugurate a bridge in the southern port city of Karachi. "I could have said thank you and walked away," he told the state news agency. "But this was not the right approach because I cannot watch this country go down in front of me after so many achievements and such an economic turnaround." Musharraf urged the opposition not to boycott the vote, saying that any who do would be acting because they feel they cannot win — not because the playing field is unfair. Negroponte, Washington's No. 2 diplomat, was blunt in comments Sunday after his meetings with Musharraf and other senior military and political figures, saying the emergency rule was "not compatible with free, fair and credible elections." But Pakistan was quick to dismiss those concerns, saying the senior American diplomat brought no new proposals on his weekend visit, and received no assurances after urging Musharraf to restore the constitution. The face-off leaves the Bush administration with limited options in steering its nuclear-armed ally back toward democracy. Senior Bush Administration officials have said publicly that they have no plans to cut off the billions of dollars in military aid that Pakistan receives each year. Associated Press writers Sadaqat Jan, Stephen Graham and Munir Ahmad contributed to this report. [url]http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1685311,00.html[/url] |
Musharraf May Quit Army by Saturday..Washington Post
[B][U][CENTER][SIZE="4"]Musharraf May Quit Army by Saturday[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B]
By PAUL HAVEN The Associated Press Wednesday, November 21, 2007; 9:23 AM ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- President Gen. Pervez Musharraf could quit as chief of the army and take oath as a civilian president by Saturday, a senior official said, meeting a key demand of critics at home and abroad of his imposition of emergency rule. The Supreme Court is expected to clear the last legal obstacles to Musharraf's continued rule on Thursday. The Election Commission can then confirm his victory in a disputed October presidential election. Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Musharraf would quickly quit his army post and be sworn in for a new five-year term. "It may happen on Saturday," Qayyum said. "I know the president, and he will honor his commitment." The general has been under heavy political pressure since he suspended the constitution Nov. 3 and cracked down on dissenters who had questioned his right to stay in power. The United States has said crucial Jan. 8 elections will be seriously compromised if the state of emergency is not lifted. The U.S. hopes that balloting will usher in a moderate government committed to fighting Islamic extremism. At home, Musharraf risks seeing his two main rivals _ former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif _ join forces to oust him. But having purged the Supreme Court of dissenting judges, Musharraf has reined back some of the most draconian elements of what many legal experts are describing as martial law. Seeking to stave off diplomatic isolation, Pakistan on Wednesday asked a key international forum comprising Britain and its former colonies to delay a decision on whether to suspend it. In a phone call with his British counterpart on Tuesday, caretaker Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro asked the Commonwealth for a "short postponement," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said. Soomro "expressed concern that any precipitate decision by (the Commonwealth) on Pakistan's participation in the Commonwealth would be unfortunate" and urged them to send a delegation to Pakistan to find out more about the situation, Sadiq said. Foreign ministers from the 53-nation organization meeting in Kampala, Uganda, were expected to take up the issue of Pakistan on Thursday. A suspension would be an international embarrassment for Pakistan, which was last kicked out of the organization in 1999, following Musharraf's coup. It took them five years to be reinstated. [url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/21/AR2007112100241.html[/url] |
Retirement of Musharraf as COAS notified
[B][U][SIZE="4"]Retirement of Musharraf as COAS notified[/SIZE][/U][/B]
* Will take oath as civilian president on 29th * To start holding farewell meetings today * Army to remain in charge of presidential security ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf would take oath as civilian president at 11am on Thursday, but before this he would relinquish charge of chief of army staff (COAS) to start his second term as president of Pakistan. “Yes, he is going to take oath at 11am on Thursday,” Musharraf’s spokesman Maj Gen (r) Rashid Qureshi told Daily Times on Monday. He also confirmed that the Ministry of Defence had issued a notification of his retirement as army chief after being in office for nine years. Farewell: Defence Ministry sources said Musharraf would start holding farewell meetings today (Tuesday) – a clear indication that he had decided to call it a day. “Musharraf will meet top military commanders, principal staff officers and senior colleagues,” defence sources said. The formal handing over of charge to his successor is also part of the farewell proceedings, they added. The sources said Musharraf was fulfilling the promise he made to the nation and the Supreme Court of vacating the army post before taking oath as president. Preparations for the ceremony to mark the change of army command are underway, and a formal ceremony will take place at General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, defence sources said. After the completion of the ceremony, the Defence Ministry will announce the appointment of the new chief of army staff, sources said. A special meeting of corps commanders is expected before the handing over ceremony, they added. Born in 1943 in New Delhi, Musharraf enrolled in the Kakul Military Academy in 1961. He was commissioned in the Artillery Regiment in 1964. Former premier Nawaz Sharif appointed him as the country’s 13th army chief on October 8, 1998. On October 12, 1999, he ousted Sharif in a bloodless coup and bundled him off to Saudi Arabia on December 10, 2000. On October 7, 2001, Musharraf extended his military term, which is supposed to be a three-year tenure post, for an unspecified period. After the late General Ziaul Haq, who was army chief for more than 12 years from April 1, 1976 to August 17, 1988, Musharraf’s tenure as army chief has been the longest. Last week, the new SC judges validated Musharraf’s victory in an October 6 presidential election, clearing the way for him to serve a further five years in office. Army security, staff to stay: Sources said President Musharraf’s security would remain entrusted to the army, even after taking oath as a civilian president. A special contingent of Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group, headed by a brigadier, has been tasked with ensuring Musharraf’s security. General Musharraf has also decided to retain his current military staff after resigning as army chief, it was learnt. This includes a full time military secretary, deputy military secretary and deputy chief of staff. sajjad malik/agencies [url]http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C11%5C27%5Cstory_27-11-2007_pg1_1[/url] |
Musharraf bids farewell to troops
[B][U][CENTER][SIZE="2"][COLOR="DarkRed"]Musharraf bids farewell to troops[/COLOR][/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B]
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — President Gen. Pervez Musharraf visited troops Tuesday to bid them farewell, a day before he planned to stand down as military chief to become a civilian head of state in a move aimed at easing the country's political crisis. A guard of honor composed of service personnel from the army, navy and air force greeted him as he arrived at armed forces headquarters in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the capital Islamabad. Musharraf, who wore his general's uniform, did not make any comments to journalists who were being taken on a military-conducted visit to cover the ceremonies. Aides to Musharraf announced he would retire on Wednesday as chief of Pakistan's army, whose generals have ruled the country for most of its life since independence from British rule in 1947. The opposition has demanded that Musharraf relinquish his role as military chief, and rescind a state of emergency he declared on Nov.3. Musharraf spokesman Rashid Qureshi said the president would make "farewell visits" before ending a military career that began in 1964. Musharraf's successor, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, a former chief of the country's powerful intelligence service, was expected to take charge Wednesday. On Thursday, Musharraf "will take oath of office as president of Pakistan as a civilian," Qureshi said Monday. Musharraf has faced growing opposition since March, when he tried unsuccessfully to fire the Supreme Court's top judge. The political crisis was aggravated when Musharraf declared emergency rule, citing an increase in militancy in the country's northwest. The general also accused the Supreme Court of overstepping its authority and paralyzing the government, just as it was about to rule on the validity of his victory in a recent presidential election. Musharraf now faces strong opposition from two of his key opponents — Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto — both former prime ministers who have returned from exile in time for crucial parliamentary elections slated for Jan. 8. Sharif, who was ousted by the 1999 coup that put Musharraf in power, and Bhutto both registered Monday to run in the election. But like other smaller opposition groups, they indicated their parties may boycott the vote to undermine its legitimacy. Sharif, who returned home Sunday from Saudi Arabia, appealed for support from Pakistanis unhappy with Musharraf's alliance with the U.S. and the American-friendly stance of Bhutto, his one-time political archrival. Sharif has sought to present himself as an independent politician, unlike Musharraf, who is criticized by many Pakistanis as a stooge of the Bush administration. Sharif has said that as premier he ignored U.S. advice not to conduct the nuclear test explosions that made Pakistan a nuclear power in 1998. Such nationalist posturing could entice some voters away from Bhutto, who has wooed America — Pakistan's biggest sponsor — by suggesting she might let U.S. troops strike at Osama bin Laden if he is located on Pakistani territory. America and its allies want Musharraf to lift his suspension of the constitution to ensure a fair election, which they hope will produce a moderate government willing and capable of standing up to religious extremists with ties to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Musharraf has eased the crackdown on dissent that saw police detain thousands of opponents and take independent TV news off air. A crackdown against opposition following the emergency also broke Musharraf's relations with Bhutto, leader of the country's biggest opposition party who was twice put under house arrest to stop her from leading mass rallies against the unpopular general. Bhutto said the election is stacked in favor of Musharraf's ruling party, but said she wouldn't participate in a boycott of the vote unless all opposition groups did — a tall order given the fractious relations among Pakistan's many political blocs. [url]http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-11-27-pakistan-tuesday_N.htm[/url] |
Kayani takes over command from Musharraf today
[B][U][CENTER][SIZE="4"][COLOR="Blue"]Kayani takes over command from Musharraf today[/COLOR][/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B]
ISLAMABAD, Nov 27: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday began a two-day round of farewell calls to the Services Chiefs at the end of his 43-year career with the army. He will hand over the command of the army to Vice Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Wednesday. Gen Pervez Musharraf visited the Joint Staff Headquarters, the Naval and the Air Headquarters. He will visit the General Headquarters on Wednesday. He thanked officers and jawans for their cooperation and lauded their services for rendering supreme sacrifices for the country in meeting external and internal threats and par- ticularly noted their role in fighting the global war against terrorism. The president said that the professionalism of the three services was internationally acknowledged and was a source of pride for the country. He said the Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force had risen to the occasion whenever the need arose and guaranteed the sovereignty and independence of the country. Attired in military ceremonial dress, the president visited the three military headquarters in line with tradition. Contingents of various services saluted him. The president reviewed the guard of honour. The president had a meeting with the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Gen Tariq Majid, at the Joint Staff Headquarters. He later visited the Naval Headquarters and met the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir, and the principal staff officers. He also visited the Air Headquarters and met Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed along with other senior officers. He also had an informal meeting with senior officers and was presented souvenirs. Gen Musharraf will take oath as a civilian president on Wednesday. Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar will administer the oath at the Aiwan-i-Sadr on Thursday. —APP [url]http://www.dawn.com.pk/2007/11/28/top6.htm[/url] |
General Musharraf bids farewell to arms
[B][U][CENTER][SIZE="4"]General Musharraf bids farewell to arms [/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B]
* Thanks officers and jawans for their cooperation * Change of command ceremony today * Musharraf will take oath as president tomorrow By Sajjad Malik RAWALPINDI: President General Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday bid farewell to several Services chiefs, as he prepared to end his 43 years of service to the Pakistan Army. Gen Musharraf paid farewell calls at the Joint Staff Headquarters, the Naval and the Air Headquarters. He will visit the General Headquarters on Wednesday. Presidential spokesman Major General (r) Rashid Qureshi told reporters that Gen Musharraf met with the Joint Staff Headquarters director general during his visit and Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Tariq Majeed. He also met Naval Chief Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir and principal staff officers at the Naval Headquarters. He met Chief of Air Staff Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed and other senior officers during his visit to the Air Headquarters, Qureshi added. Thanks officials: Gen Musharraf thanked and praised military officers and jawans for their services and sacrifices in protecting the country and playing their role in the war on terror. He said the three services of the military always proved a ‘guarantee’ to the sovereignty and independence of the country, reported APP. Change of command: The presidential spokesman said Gen Musharraf would hand over the charge of military chief to Vice Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani in a ceremony today (Wednesday), which will be aired live on PTV. He said Musharraf would brief the military’s top brass on potential security threats and his vision of army preparedness during a farewell meeting, which he would chair, with corps commanders. Musharraf would thank them for their support and cooperation during his tenure as army chief, he added. Inter-Services Public Relations officials said PTV would telecast the ceremony in which Musharraf would step down as army chief at 10am. “The ceremony would be followed by a meeting and Musharraf’s address to the corps commanders,” they said. They said the “Evening Retreat” programme would be an important event of the day when the national flag would be lowered at all military units to mark the change of the army chief. The day would end with a formal farewell dinner for Musharraf that would be attended by all corps commanders and senior military officers, they added. Oath as president: After doffing his uniform, Gen Musharraf would take oath of the office of president tomorrow (Thursday) at 11am at Awan-e-Sadr to resume his second five-year term. Chief Justice of Pakistan Abdul Hameed Dogar would administer oath to Musharraf. Defence Ministry sources said Musharraf, who was a firm believer in unity of command, would have to share powers with the army chief and prime minister after putting off uniform. “It is a virtual revival of Troika of 1990s but its efficacy will be diluted considerably in the presence of the National Security Council,” they said. |
```Breaking News``` "General" Musharaf has become "Mr". Musharaf.
[B]At last Gen. Perviz Musharaf gives up army uniform and becomes the civilian President of Pakistan and hands over the command of military in a ceremony in Rawalpindi.
Gen Musharraf passed a ceremonial baton to Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiani at the army's headquarters. In his farewell address, Gen Musharraf said the army was his "life" and he was proud to have been the commander of this "great force". He had been under huge pressure to quit as army chief and is due to be sworn in as civilian president on Thursday. [COLOR="blue"][B][U]'Half a century' [/U][/B][/COLOR] Dressed in full military uniform, Gen Musharraf arrived at the ceremony with a baton under his left arm. On his arrival, he was greeted by Gen Kiani and inspected a guard of honour. A military band played Pakistan's national anthem and the ceremony began with a recitation from the Koran. The colourful ceremony was shown live on PTV, Pakistan's national channel. "I am bidding farewell to the army after having been in uniform for 46 years," Gen Musharraf said in his address. He became army chief in October 1998 This army is my life, my passion. I love this army, and this relationship will continue, although I will not be in uniform," he said. Gen Musharraf said it was difficult to describe his emotions. "When one has lived half a century with a family, a family like the army, united, and fully loyal... then leaving it is bound to bring on emotions. But such is the system of life. People come, and they have to go. Good things also come to an end. Everything is mortal," he said. "I am fortunate to have commanded the best army in the world. This army is an integrating force, the saviour of Pakistan," Gen Musharraf said. "Without this army, the entity of Pakistan cannot exist." [U][B][COLOR="Blue"]'Excellent soldier' [/COLOR][/B][/U] Gen Musharraf expressed full faith in the ability of his successor, Gen Kiani, to lead the force. "He's an excellent soldier and I can say with full confidence that under his command, the armed forces will achieve great heights," Gen Musharraf said. He had designated Gen Kiani, a former head of the intelligence services, as his successor in October. The most serious pressure on the president to give up his uniform had come from the United States, his main international backer. Washington has grown concerned in recent months at the army's inability to rein in pro-Taleban militants and by Gen Musharraf's growing unpopularity. As a civilian leader, President Musharraf will still have considerable powers, including the ability to sack a civilian government. He imposed emergency rule on 3 November in order, he said, to control an unruly judiciary and deal with the growing threat from Islamist militants. General elections are to be held on 8 January, but President Musharraf has yet to say when the emergency will be lifted. [/B] |
Musharraf sworn in for new 5-year term
[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkRed"]Musharraf sworn in for new 5-year term[/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pervez Musharraf embarked on a new, five-year term as a civilian president Thursday, a day after ceding the powerful post of army chief — the basis of his rule for the past eight years. In his inaugural address, Musharraf welcomed the return from exile of his old foes, former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, saying it was "good" for political reconciliation. However, neither was present at the ceremony in the state palace in Islamabad, and it remained unclear whether the changeover would defuse the threat of a boycott of upcoming parliamentary elections. Such a move would undercut Musharraf's effort to legitimize his rule through a democratic ballot. "This is a milestone in the transition of Pakistan to the complete essence of democracy," Musharraf told an audience of government officials, foreign diplomats and military generals. "Elections will be held in January come whatever may." On Wednesday, a tearful Musharraf ended a four-decade military career as part of his long-delayed pledge not to hold both jobs. The United States, keen to promote democracy while keeping Pakistan focused on fighting Islamic extremism, praised Musharraf's relaxation of his grip on power as a "good step" forward. But it gave him no slack on the other key demand that he end a state of emergency that has enraged political rivals, strained his close ties with the West and cast doubt on the ability of opposition parties to campaign for the parliamentary elections. "We welcome Musharraf's decision to shed the uniform," Bhutto said Wednesday. "Now the Pakistani army has got a full-fledged chief and they can better perform their duties." But she said her party would "not take any decision in haste" on whether it could accept Musharraf as head of state. Sharif again rejected Musharraf's presidency, saying his presidential oath would have "no legitimacy." Musharraf first promised to quit the army at the end of 2004 but broke his word, saying the country needed his strong leadership. He told The Associated Press in an interview this month that his presence was vital to ensure stability. Outgoing lawmakers re-elected Musharraf to the new five-year term in October. But the Supreme Court held up his confirmation following complaints that a military officer could not run for elected office under the constitution. Musharraf reacted by proclaiming a state of emergency on Nov. 3, sacking the chief justice and other independent judges and replacing them with his appointees. The reconstituted top court then duly approved his election. Officials have indicated emergency rule might be lifted soon, but have not set a firm date. President Bush said he appreciated that Musharraf kept his word by relinquishing his military post, calling it "strong first step" toward enhancing democracy in Pakistan. "It is something that a lot of people doubted would ever happen," Bush said in an interview with CNN's The Situation Room. But Bush added that "in order to get Pakistan back on the road to democracy, he's got to suspend the emergency law before elections." After more than 40 years in the army, Musharraf now will have to jostle for power with Bhutto and Sharif. Both have registered as candidates in the elections, and say they will boycott the ballot only if the entire opposition agrees to — something considered highly unlikely. Sharif, who returned from exile on Sunday, has taken a particularly hard line against Musharraf, who ousted him in the 1999 coup. A conservative comfortable with Islamic parties, Sharif has been reaching out to the many voters who oppose Pakistan's front-line role against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, styling Musharraf as an American stooge. Emergency rule has also strained Musharraf's relations with Bhutto, who shares his secularist, pro-Western views and has left the door ajar for cooperation. Musharraf has relaxed some aspects of the crackdown. Thousands of opponents have been released and all but one news channel is back on the air. However, he has refused to reverse his purge of the judiciary, an act that pitted him against Pakistan's well-organized legal fraternity. On Wednesday, about 400 lawyers staged a protest about 2 miles from army headquarters, shouting "We want freedom!" and "Hang Musharraf!" "He should be thrown out," said Sardar Asmatullah, a lawyers association leader. "He has been a dictator for the last eight years and he has delivered nothing good for this country." [url]http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-11-29-musharraf-president_N.htm[/url] |
General Musharraf goes back to Civvy Street
[SIZE="3"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Lest old acquaintance be forgot[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B][COLOR="Purple"]Nov 29th 2007 | LAHORE From The Economist print edition[/COLOR] General Musharraf goes back to Civvy Street. Other civilians are not happy Reuters PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, Pakistan's beleaguered president, who prides himself on being a man of his word, had often promised to stand down as chief of the army. So on November 28th he inspected a guard of honour in Rawalpindi and passed the baton to General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. Dressed in full regalia and bursting with emotion, General Musharraf said: “This army is my life, my passion. I love this army, and this relationship will continue, although I will not be in uniform.” Aptly, the military band gave him a stirring send-off with “Auld Lang Syne”. The next day plain “Mr” Musharraf was sworn in as a civilian president of the country by his new handpicked chief justice. His advisers say that President Musharraf will soon lift the state of emergency he imposed on November 3rd. That unconstitutional “deviation”, as it is called in Pakistan, enabled Mr Musharraf to sack 12 judges of the supreme court who seemed bent on overthrowing him. He replaced them with more pliant ones. They have now duly legitimised his presidency. Even by Pakistani standards, it has been a tumultuous week. Mr Musharraf had long thundered that he would not allow Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister he ousted in a coup in 1999, to return to Pakistan from exile in Saudi Arabia and rejoin politics. Indeed, when Mr Sharif tried to come home in September, he was bundled into a waiting aircraft at Islamabad and shunted off to Jeddah. But another former prime minister in exile, Benazir Bhutto, was allowed back on October 18th, thanks to American pressure on General Musharraf to make an alliance with her liberal People's Party. Mr Musharraf flew to Riyadh on November 22nd in a bid to convince King Abdullah to hang on to Mr Sharif until after the general elections on January 8th. But, far from entertaining the plea, the monarch dispatched Mr Sharif to Pakistan in a royal aircraft on November 25th, just in time to file his nomination papers for the elections. The opposition is seized with the difficulty of ensuring free and fair elections, or, failing that, of forging a united front to boycott the polls. Neither task is easy. Mr Musharraf has packed the election commission and caretaker administration with loyalists and rigged the rules. The opposition, moreover, is divided. Miss Bhutto has gauged her popularity—huge crowds welcomed her on October 18th—and wants to contest an election. But she is using the threat of a boycott to press demands that the state of emergency be lifted, pro-Musharraf local governments suspended, and the election commission reformed. Maulana Fazal ur Rehman, the leader of the biggest religious party, wants much the same. He hopes to form governments in the North-West Frontier province and Baluchistan. Only Mr Sharif favours a boycott. But he fears he would be sidelined if he goes it alone. So he is hedging his bets. He has filed his nomination papers but is also hoping for an all-parties conference to agree on a boycott. If, as seems likely, Mr Musharraf meets some opposition demands, the elections will go ahead. But they may not provide stability to Mr Musharraf's position—let alone Pakistan's. The country is bitterly divided across religious, regional, ethnic and class lines. Coalition governments in Islamabad and in the provinces are inevitable. As in the past, Mr Musharraf's party will be inclined to make alliances with the religious parties. But that will be looked at askance in America, which frets that such expedient political alliances help explain why Mr Musharraf's prosecution of the war against Islamist terrorists is ineffectual. However, if Mr Musharraf wants a deal with Miss Bhutto, he will have to share power with her, perhaps as prime minister, a prospect neither he nor his party relishes. If he spurns her, she will join hands with Mr Sharif and the mullahs to dethrone him. When Parliament meets in February, he will need a two-thirds majority to legitimise his “deviation” on November 3rd. Failing that, he would risk impeachment and have to turn for help to his new army chief, General Kayani. Pakistan would revert to rule by the “troika” of army chief, president and prime minister, an arrangement that has scarred politics since the restoration of democracy in 1988. One elected government after another has been sacked by the president (thrice) or the army chief (once, in 1999). [/B] |
A solid foundation but a challenging future by Pervez Musharraf
[B][CENTER][SIZE="3"][COLOR="DarkRed"]A solid foundation but a challenging future[/COLOR][/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]
by Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan; Posted 5:00 AM GMT, Monday, December 3, 2007 Over the past year, the conflict in Afghanistan and the emergence of a virulent campaign by foreign terrorists to destabilize Pakistan have created a national threat that has interrupted Pakistan's progress much as America experienced in 2001-02. Foreign terrorists have engaged our security forces and suicide bombers have struck at metropolises that are the pulse of our nation. These events have caused me to take unpopular and extraordinary actions to protect civil order. Those actions have succeeded in minimizing violence and the vulnerability to attacks, with costs incurred to civil liberty and institutional balance. We are actively engaging civil society to ensure that it continues its critical role in building a consensus around a progressive agenda. Through all this, my commitment to free elections has not wavered and we will have elections in January, 2008. Elections are a very short time away, particularly for a nation that is 160 million strong, rich in diverse political opinions. America has the luxury of national campaigns in which a vision for your future can be developed and explained by your candidates over years. In Pakistan, we have but weeks. That is why I have been dismayed that the media has reduced our national discourse to a conflict between institutions and individuals, instead of real issues affecting the well-being of the people. I will judge Pakistan's elections a success if they meet two criteria. First, they must take place in a free and safe environment. We cannot allow terrorists to hijack this critical democratic institution through violence. Nor can we allow self-serving politicians to disrupt the consensus required to continue the fight against terror. Second, we must move beyond personalities to debate a vision for Pakistan: a vision that builds upon our achievements, leveraging Pakistan's intrinsic strengths, and taking the people of Pakistan beyond a narrow-minded focus to an integrated perspective reflecting development, justice, and prosperity. At this critical juncture, Pakistan needs the continuity of successful policies -- not a myopic hustle for individual power. We are confident in our ability to provide security. But as America knows well, a secure future requires more than physical security. Our literacy rate of 54% must be raised. One hundred million Pakistanis (63% of the population) are under 25 years of age, and many are intimidated by a vocal minority of extremists. We need to continue developing the economic opportunity that will give these young people the hope and encouragement to persuade them not to fall prey to extremist rhetoric, but rather to work productively toward a future that will benefit them and Pakistan as a whole. Even beyond the national borders, my concept of "Enlightened Moderation" needs to be used as a bridge between the Western World and the alienated Islamic world. In a November, 2007 speech before the Center for U.S. Global Engagement, U.S. Senator Joseph Biden, among the most experienced foreign policy experts in Washington, called for "A New Approach to Pakistan." Senator Biden got many things right. He lauded Pakistan's tradition of democracy. He recognized our "large moderate majority." He recognized that a secure Pakistan is a Pakistan in which free institutions are made self-perpetuating by strong economic progress. He recognized that the building of schools, hospitals and infrastructure would support advancement of the Pakistani people and bring them out of the poverty trap of the past. Indeed, over the past eight years, we have built a solid foundation for an economically vibrant Pakistan. We have maintained one of Asia's highest GDP growth rates at 7.5%, increased our per-capita income by 38%, and achieved a record high foreign investment of $8.4 billion, up from a mere $ 322 million in 2000. Other financial indicators support this trend: Pakistan's total foreign exchange reserves have increased ninefold to reach $15.7 billion, the stock exchange index has increased more than tenfold, the exchange rate has remained stable, 1.5 million Pakistanis have come above the poverty line, and the public debt has halved. Taking advantage of our geo-strategic position, we have improved the infrastructure environment by investing in public sector development funds and promoting public-private partnerships towards infrastructure mega-projects. We have created a strong system of local governance where elected representatives manage their local districts with the help of civil administration, thereby significantly empowering the masses at the grassroots level. We have deregulated the media to where it is the freest in the history of Pakistan, where it is expected to exercise its freedom with responsibility. I have always believed in the freedom of expression and have respected difference of opinion, and I will continue to do so in the future. We have sought to create a government balanced between the executive, legislative and judiciary branches, coupled with a vibrant, peaceful and productive civil society. Senator Biden was correct when in his New Hampshire speech he said the world must take a new approach to Pakistan, helping our people by solving problems. He made a mistake, however, when he referenced a "Musharraf policy" separate from a "Pakistan policy". I have never had a policy separate from a "Pakistan policy". My policies have reflected the aspirations of the progressive, moderate forces in Pakistan that have been aimed at containing the growing extremist forces fueled by regional unrest. Pakistan's physical security and that of the world necessitates that religious extremists are sidelined; that Pakistan's natural resources and nuclear assets are protected; and that military morale remains high. It is my commitment to ensure continued implementation of a policy that will take the people of Pakistan safely through this critical junction towards a future free from the present conflict. The vision I will present for a 'new Pakistan' in the coming days, as Pakistan's civilian democratically-elected President, rests on this decisive premise. [url]http://www.secure-x-001.net/SecureGeo/Issue/SecureObservationComments.asp?IssueFunction=103&Site=109&Portal=1[/url] |
Musharraf to lift emergency rule
[B][U][SIZE="4"]Musharraf to lift emergency rule[/SIZE][/U][/B]
Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:25am EST By Alistair Scrutton ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf will lift emergency rule on Saturday in a move Western nations hope will stabilize the nuclear-armed state amid militant violence. Musharraf will address the nation on TV and radio on Saturday night, but critics say curbs on the media and judiciary will remain before the general election on January 8. The government says constitutional rights will be restored but the opposition says Musharraf can still manipulate an election win for his allies and secure a power base despite growing unpopularity and unrest. Citing spiraling militant violence, Musharraf imposed the emergency on November 3, suspended the constitution and purged the Supreme Court to fend off challenges to his re-election, which new hand-picked judges have since rubber-stamped. Two soldiers and three civilians were killed near a Pakistani army camp by a suicide bomber on a bicycle on Saturday, underscoring a growing number of insurgent attacks this year in which hundreds of people have been killed. Facing international condemnation, including from his ally the United States, Musharraf said he would restore the constitution. But some lawyers and judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who were deposed by Musharraf are still under house arrest. The Pakistani media criticized this week a ban on live broadcasts as an attempt to control election coverage. The end of the emergency may not change that. "I know I won't be released, the lifting of the state of emergency will not change anything," said Tariq Mehmood, a leading opposition lawyer under house arrest. "The army and Musharraf will still be in total control." Election monitors and many politicians fear Musharraf, despite calls for a fair vote, can rig the polls through a network of district chiefs, bogus votes and by excluding opposition supporters from ballot stations. STILL PULLING THE STRINGS? Critics point out that Musharraf, who came to power in a 1999 coup but stepped down as army chief last month, still lives in his army house. The election is essentially a three-way battle between parties loyal to Musharraf and the parties of two main opposition leaders, former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto. An opposition-run parliament could move to impeach the general over accusations he acted unconstitutionally in securing a new term as president. With political rallies banned, parties have been holding what they call smaller "meetings" to get round the regulations. The opposition hopes that bigger rallies would be allowed as the campaign gets into gear after the weekend. Critics are worried of possible amendments to give Musharraf protection from attempts in courts to prosecute him for breaking the constitution -- a move that has been carried out before by rulers in Pakistan's long history of military interference. "When the emergency is lifted, the devil may be in the details," said Nasim Zehra, a political analyst. (Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider; editing by Robert Birsel and Grant McCool) © Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world. |
Musharraf made a mockery of Pakistan: Sharif
[B][CENTER][SIZE="4"]Musharraf made a mockery of Pakistan: Sharif[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]
Mon Dec 24, 2007 6:22am EST By Faisal Aziz SUKKUR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf made the country an international laughing stock by purging the judiciary after he imposed emergency rule in November, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Monday. Sharif, who returned from seven years in exile last month, took his campaign for January 8 elections to the southern province of Sindh, the heartland of another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, where he acknowledged he had little support. Sharif, ousted by Musharraf in 1999, has been campaigning for the parliamentary elections despite a ban on running because of past criminal convictions he says were politically motivated. "Musharraf has made us a mockery by sacking the judiciary," Sharif told a crowd of about 3,000 at a rally in the main market area of the town of Sukkur on the Indus river. "We are a laughing stock all over the world, even in India. We have to liberate our country of dictators," he said. Musharraf, citing a meddling judiciary and rising militancy, imposed emergency rule on November 3. He purged the judiciary of judges seen as hostile to his October re-election by legislators while still army chief. Emergency rule was lifted on December 15 after Musharraf stepped down as army chief and was sworn in as a civilian president. But he has refused to reinstate the judges. Sharif had proposed boycotting the election unless the judges were reinstated but decided his party would take part after Bhutto refused to join a boycott. Bhutto says a new parliament can decide on the judges' fate. Pakistan's allies hope the election will bring stability to the nuclear-armed country after months of turmoil and growing militant violence. Pakistan's main stock index ended at an all-time closing high as investors took fresh positions amid growing confidence about politics, dealers said. "HEROES" Sharif would seem an unlikely champion of the judiciary. He had a major dispute with the Supreme Court during his second term as prime minister in the 1990s, which led to the removal of the then chief justice. But he has made a demand for the restoration of the judges, some of whom remain under house arrest, a main theme of his party's campaign. "These judges are our heroes," he said. "It is our commitment that we will restore these judges at any cost." The vote for provincial parliaments and a National Assembly from which a prime minister and a government will be drawn is a three-way race between Sharif, Bhutto and the party that ruled under Musharraf and backs him. Analysts expect a hung parliament which would likely mean two of the three main parties having to forge an alliance. In Sukkur, flags and posters of Bhutto's party bedecked walls around the market where Sharif spoke. Some traders didn't even bother closing their shops. "Why should I close my shop and go to his rally? He's not my leader, I didn't invite him," said Muhammad Abid whose shop is a couple of hundred yards away from the stage where Sharif spoke. "I can't vote for someone who ran away instead of facing the courts," he said, referring to Sharif's exile to Saudi Arabia in 2000, a year after he was ousted. He was allowed to leave and escape a prison term in exchange, the government says, for a promise to stay out of politics. Sharif's strongholds are in urban areas of Punjab, Pakistan's richest and most populous province which returns nearly half of National Assembly members. He did not appear hopeful of winning seats in Sindh. "We've never won a National Assembly seat from Sukkur but I still love the people of Sukkur and Sindh ... they've always supported the democratic forces," he told the crowd. (Editing by Robert Birsel and Roger Crabb) [url]http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSISL27309720071224[/url] [I]© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world. Reuters journalists are subject to the Reuters Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.[/I] |
[B][U][CENTER][SIZE="4"]Musharraf says he will quit if opposition tries to impeach him: US warned against intervention[/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B]
SINGAPORE, Jan 11: President Pervez Musharraf has warned that the US troops will be regarded as invaders if they cross into Pakistan to hunt Al Qaeda militants and has said he will resign if opposition parties try to impeach him after next month’s elections, according to an interview. President Musharraf told the Straits Times that the US or coalition troops would not be welcome unless invited for a particular reason, such as hunting Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. “Nobody will come here until we ask them to come. And we haven’t asked them,” he said in the interview which was published on Friday. Asked if an unilateral intervention would be seen as an invasion, Mr Musharraf replied: “Certainly. If they come without our permission, that’s against the sovereignty of Pakistan. “But when you’re talking about Osama bin Laden, any action against him will be free, if we know where he is, if we have good intelligence. “The methodology will be discussed together and we’ll attack the target together.” Pakistan’s military this month rejected a New York Times report that Washington is considering granting the Pentagon and the CIA new authority to conduct covert operations in the tribal areas, where Al Qaeda is showing new strength. Pakistan is struggling to put down violence in the tribal zone despite sending 90,000 troops there to hunt militants, which some experts believe include bin Laden. But President Musharraf said the US army would not do a better job. “The United States seems to think that what our army cannot do, they can do, this is a very wrong perception,” he said. “I challenge anybody to come into our mountains. They would regret that day. It’s not easy there.” Hundreds of Al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents took shelter in the rugged northwestern region after US-led forces overthrew the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US. RESIGNATION: Musharraf said he would resign if the opposition parties tried to impeach him after next month’s elections. Musharraf’s remarks came as police tried to identify a suicide bomber who blew himself up in Lahore on Thursday, killing 24 people and adding to pressure on the former general as he struggles to stay in office eight years after seizing power in military coup. Musharraf is also under gathering domestic political pressure. The party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and the other main opposition grouping are predicted to make gains in the Feb 18 polls. They have vowed to oust Musharraf if they emerge as winners. Musharraf is seen as vulnerable to impeachment over his decision to fire Supreme Court judges and suspend the Constitution last year. “If that (impeachment) happens, let me assure that I’d be leaving office before they would do anything. If they won with this kind of majority and they formed a government that had the intention of doing this, I wouldn’t like to stick around,” he said. “I would like to quit the scene.” Thursday’s blast targeting police officers outside the High Court in the eastern city of Lahore was the latest in a series of bloody attacks in the country. At least 20 suicide bombers have struck in the past three months, killing 400 people, many of them from the security forces -- the most intense period of terror strikes here since Pakistan allied with the US in its war against Al Qaeda and other extremist groups in 2001.—Agencies [url]http://www.dawn.com/2008/01/12/top2.htm[/url] |
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