Musharraf quits the army...

[Che Guava]

No more snappy uniforms at press conferences...?

Musharraf to 'quit as army chief'

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf plans to stand down as army chief by 15 November, an official from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) says.

Gen Musharraf will resign from the powerful post after the presidential elections, said Mushahid Hussain Sayed, the PML's secretary general.

He is seeking re-election by parliament before its term expires in mid-October.

Pakistan's Supreme Court meanwhile is debating his right to remain army chief if he stands for president again.

There has been no confirmation from Gen Musharraf himself about his intentions.

The country's largest political party, Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, has been holding negotiations about a possible power-sharing deal in which they have demanded that he step down from his military role.

Petitions

"We expect that after his re-election process next month, God willing, Gen Musharraf would take his oath of office as a civilian president before November 15," said Mr Sayed.

There has been growing opposition to Gen Musharraf's contention that he is constitutionally allowed to be both president and head of the army at the same time.

The Supreme Court is hearing six petitions seeking to disqualify Gen Musharraf as a presidential candidate.

The petitions have been filed by, among others, Pakistan's largest Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami, former cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan and an association of lawyers.

The six petitions also oppose Gen Musharraf's plan to seek re-election by the outgoing parliament and provincial elections, saying there should be general elections first.

Gen Musharraf's apparent promise to step down as army chief is not the first time he has made the claim.

In 2002, he promised members of Pakistan's Islamic parties that he would resign as head of the army by 2004 in return for their support for a constitutional amendment legitimising his 1999 military takeover.

The opposition believed that that the verbal promise was also enshrined in the amendment, an issue disputed by Gen Musharraf's advisers.

But instead of keeping that promise, he succeeded in getting parliament to pass an act with a simple majority giving him a one-time exemption to stay on in office until November 2007.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto announced on Friday that she intends to return to Pakistan from exile on 18 October to contest parliamentary elections, which must be held by mid-January.

She was said to have been in negotiations with Gen Musharraf over a deal that would allow her a third term as prime minister in exchange for her support for his plan to be re-elected president.

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Call me cynical, but I'll believe it when I see it...!

 

[Winner]

If this happens, it will be his end. Once he loses a control over the military, he's a dead man.

 

[Abaddon]

He won't last long without their backing

 

[Rambuchan]

Sounds like Benazir Bhutto and him have finally done a deal. He is likely to stick to it, I reckon, for Musharaff knows his days are numbered without more of a democratic mandate and without her support, which isn't necessarily the same thing. And with the fundamentalist groups that he (and his democratically elected predecessors) fed all along now biting at the ankles, partly in protest at the double faced USA poodle act, he's doubly squeezed. But, in making such a deal, military get-up or not, at least he would still 'see some of the action'. He's like to take this over nothing.

Those looking for goodies and baddies in Pakistani politics will be quite disappointed. Whilst Musharaff did indeed take the country in a bloodless coup, he was, in the eyes of many many Pakistanis, rescuing the country from terribly corrupt leaders, like Nawaz Sharif whom he ousted and, of course, Bhutto herself. Her husband wasn't nicknamed "Mr 10%" for nothing.

When I went to Pakistan shortly after his coup, everyone I interviewed had nothing but praise for the man. Public works got built on time, they could rely more on transparency in government administration, corruption was tangibly reduced, and so he was largely welcomed. Those interviewed, from all classes of this hugely disparate society, all had bad things to say about Democracy (seen as a Kleptocracy after the string of corrupt leaders), and many likened it to being at the behest of America's will, which was in conflict with Pakistan's own best interests as they saw it. This sentiment, when matched with Musharaff's recent cosying up to the US and his (apparently) hardline against both the fundamentalists and Supreme Court, has pushed him into the untenable situation we now see him in. But he'll likely stick around, as a token in civvies, both for his own interest and for Bhutto's. But when her capital in him runs out, then he is indeed a goner. [edit:] How she does that will be the interesting part.

 

[Che Guava]

Interesting insights, Ram!

A side note: a good article in this month's Foreign Policy about the role of the army on Pakistani society and how the military has become the new kleptocrats of the country. IIRC, the army is now the country's biggest land owner, and military-owned companies receive subsidies on things like water and electricity for thier operations. No doubt the generals are not looking forward to having a civilian president...

 

[zjl56]

Does the President of Pakistan have direct authority over the Army Chief?

 

[Masquerouge]

Those looking for goodies and baddies in Pakistani politics will be quite disappointed.

But... but... how can we have a decent foreign policy if there are no bad guys?

 

[Che Guava]

Does the President of Pakistan have direct authority over the Army Chief?

Currently, the President is the army chief! Constitutionally, however, the President has the power appoint the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

But... but... how can we have a decent foreign policy if there are no bad guys?

Maybe we could be the bad guys for awhile and pick on the good guys

 

[The Yankee]

Call me cynical, but I'll believe it when I see it...!

I didn't think he'd do it! But if Bhutto is going to throw in her support in exchange, perhaps this will be the best option for Musharraf to stay at the top for as long as possible.

 

[Japanrocks12]

He's not going to last long without their protection. On second thought, that might be a good thing

 

[The Yankee]

I'm curious as to what everyone here means when they say Musharraf won't last long now that he would give up the fatigues. Are you saying that he's left himself open to a coup attempt by an army bigwig?

I'm not sure such a prospect is all that likely, given some of the other ways Musharraf could be toppled.

 

[druidravi]

It is hard to believe him. He was always saying that but was somehow sidestepping it bringing in a new law or something.

Even this time he tried to dismiss the chief justice and get a amenable judge to help him keep his power. The move backfired on him badly and he has very few aces left legally speaking . Any new law or resolution can be taken down by the supreme court whom he antoganized .

On the other hand though he is still the real power in Pakistan and if the supreme court rules that he is to be removed as a president / army chief who will enforce it?. He could create a new post in the army after he gets elected president which allows him still to be army chief by proxy.

 

[silver 2039]

Bah....he's trying to appoint his wife President. He's going to attempt to keep power by proxy.

 

[druidravi]

Bah....he's trying to appoint his wife President. He's going to attempt to keep power by proxy.

Lol do you know about a certain Laloo prasad yadav .