Saguaro
11-29-2007, 04:44 PM
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pervez Musharraf embarked on a new five-year term as a civilian president Thursday, promising to lift a state of emergency by Dec. 16 and restore the constitution before January elections, a key demand of his domestic opponents and foreign backers.
In a televised speech hours after taking the oath of office, Musharraf also urged former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif — his two rivals for power who recently returned from exile — not to boycott the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections.
He said "a level playing field" has been given to their parties, and they and others should "participate fully."
However, he struck an uncompromising tone when insisting that the elections would go on without them, if necessary. "No one will be allowed to destabilize this democratic process or to create hurdles in its way," he said.
"I am determined to lift the emergency by Dec. 16," Musharraf said as he addressed the nation, seated between a portrait of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, and a green-and-white national flag. "The elections, God willing, will be held free and transparent under the constitution."
Musharraf imposed emergency rule Nov. 3, casting Pakistan into a deep crisis that raised Western fears for the stability of a nuclear-armed country struggling to turn a rising tide of Islamic militancy.
But having purged the Supreme Court of judges who might have blocked his plan to continue as president, the U.S.-backed leader has moved quickly to ease a wave of repression that saw thousands of opponents jailed and all independent news channels gagged.
The inauguration ceremony came a day after he ended a four-decade military career as part of his long-delayed pledge not to serve as both president and army chief. The post enabled him to topple Sharif in a 1999 coup and hold on to power for nine years.
Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar administered the oath to a solemn-looking Musharraf, dressed in a long black tunic adorned only with a pin of Pakistan's flag.
"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 at the state palace in Islamabad.
Neither Bhutto nor Sharif was present at the ceremony, and it remained unclear whether the changeover would defuse the threat of an election boycott. Such a move would undercut Musharraf's effort to legitimize his rule through a democratic ballot.
Sharif said his party and other smaller groups decided in principle at a meeting on Thursday to boycott the ballot. But he said it would talk to Bhutto and a wavering Islamist leader before making a final decision.
Bhutto has said she is reluctant to leave the field open to pro-Musharraf parties.
The Bush administration expressed hope that the opposition would participate and that the election would be fair. The U.S. also urged Musharraf to follow through on his promise to left the state of emergency.
"We look to the candidates and the people to fully participate in these free and fair elections, that they be able to voice their opinions, that they be able to assemble, and that they be able to have the freedom of the press that they had had before the emergency order was in place," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
"President Musharraf has indicated that December 16 would be the date. And we hope that he follows through on that," she added.
A day after blinking back tears as he ended his military career, Musharraf appeared to be back to his usual bullish self.
"Anyone who is talking of any boycotts should hear this out: Come hell or high water, elections will be held on Jan. 8. Nobody derails it."
Opposition politicians had urged Musharraf to lift emergency rule, restore the constitution and reverse his decision to oust chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and other independent-minded judges.
During his inaugural speech, Musharraf sought to justify the state of emergency, during which he purged the Supreme Court just as it was about to issue a verdict on the legality of his continued rule. The retooled court last week gave its stamp of approval.
He also lashed out at Western diplomats, giving them a stinging rebuttal of their criticisms.
"I personally feel that there is an unrealistic and maybe an impractical or impracticable obsession with your form of democracy, with your form of human rights, civil liberties," Musharraf said, claiming to speak for developing countries everywhere.
Pakistan wanted to attain those goals, but would need time and support to reach standards that others had built over centuries, he said.
"We will do it our way as we understand our society, our environment better than anyone in the West," he said.
Musharraf also said that stepped-up military action had "broken the back of the spread of terrorism" in the northwest.
Still, a military spokesman said five soldiers died and four were injured in the region Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded next to a passing convoy.
In the eastern city of Lahore, street clashes broke out between police and lawyers protesting against Musharraf's inauguration. Four lawyers and three officers were injured, police said.
About 200 demonstrators — chanting "Go, Musharraf, go!" and "Friends of Musharraf are traitors" — flung bricks and sticks at policemen who blocked their path as they tried to march from one court complex to another, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
Musharraf ceded command of the military to a hand-picked loyalist, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani.
"I am sure Pakistan will grow stronger with me as civilian president and Gen. Kayani as army chief," Musharraf said.
Sadique al-Farooq, a senior leader of Nawaz Sharif's party, said he hoped that Gen. Kayani would "learn lessons from the mistakes of Musharraf, and will never think of indulging in politics."
In Washington, President Bush praised Musharraf for keeping his word by relinquishing his military post, calling it a "strong first step" toward enhancing democracy in Pakistan.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071129/ap_on_re_as/pakistan;_ylt=AlMl5ZXzxv9pD9EwJWImLxqs0NUE
In a televised speech hours after taking the oath of office, Musharraf also urged former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif — his two rivals for power who recently returned from exile — not to boycott the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections.
He said "a level playing field" has been given to their parties, and they and others should "participate fully."
However, he struck an uncompromising tone when insisting that the elections would go on without them, if necessary. "No one will be allowed to destabilize this democratic process or to create hurdles in its way," he said.
"I am determined to lift the emergency by Dec. 16," Musharraf said as he addressed the nation, seated between a portrait of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, and a green-and-white national flag. "The elections, God willing, will be held free and transparent under the constitution."
Musharraf imposed emergency rule Nov. 3, casting Pakistan into a deep crisis that raised Western fears for the stability of a nuclear-armed country struggling to turn a rising tide of Islamic militancy.
But having purged the Supreme Court of judges who might have blocked his plan to continue as president, the U.S.-backed leader has moved quickly to ease a wave of repression that saw thousands of opponents jailed and all independent news channels gagged.
The inauguration ceremony came a day after he ended a four-decade military career as part of his long-delayed pledge not to serve as both president and army chief. The post enabled him to topple Sharif in a 1999 coup and hold on to power for nine years.
Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar administered the oath to a solemn-looking Musharraf, dressed in a long black tunic adorned only with a pin of Pakistan's flag.
"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 at the state palace in Islamabad.
Neither Bhutto nor Sharif was present at the ceremony, and it remained unclear whether the changeover would defuse the threat of an election boycott. Such a move would undercut Musharraf's effort to legitimize his rule through a democratic ballot.
Sharif said his party and other smaller groups decided in principle at a meeting on Thursday to boycott the ballot. But he said it would talk to Bhutto and a wavering Islamist leader before making a final decision.
Bhutto has said she is reluctant to leave the field open to pro-Musharraf parties.
The Bush administration expressed hope that the opposition would participate and that the election would be fair. The U.S. also urged Musharraf to follow through on his promise to left the state of emergency.
"We look to the candidates and the people to fully participate in these free and fair elections, that they be able to voice their opinions, that they be able to assemble, and that they be able to have the freedom of the press that they had had before the emergency order was in place," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
"President Musharraf has indicated that December 16 would be the date. And we hope that he follows through on that," she added.
A day after blinking back tears as he ended his military career, Musharraf appeared to be back to his usual bullish self.
"Anyone who is talking of any boycotts should hear this out: Come hell or high water, elections will be held on Jan. 8. Nobody derails it."
Opposition politicians had urged Musharraf to lift emergency rule, restore the constitution and reverse his decision to oust chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and other independent-minded judges.
During his inaugural speech, Musharraf sought to justify the state of emergency, during which he purged the Supreme Court just as it was about to issue a verdict on the legality of his continued rule. The retooled court last week gave its stamp of approval.
He also lashed out at Western diplomats, giving them a stinging rebuttal of their criticisms.
"I personally feel that there is an unrealistic and maybe an impractical or impracticable obsession with your form of democracy, with your form of human rights, civil liberties," Musharraf said, claiming to speak for developing countries everywhere.
Pakistan wanted to attain those goals, but would need time and support to reach standards that others had built over centuries, he said.
"We will do it our way as we understand our society, our environment better than anyone in the West," he said.
Musharraf also said that stepped-up military action had "broken the back of the spread of terrorism" in the northwest.
Still, a military spokesman said five soldiers died and four were injured in the region Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded next to a passing convoy.
In the eastern city of Lahore, street clashes broke out between police and lawyers protesting against Musharraf's inauguration. Four lawyers and three officers were injured, police said.
About 200 demonstrators — chanting "Go, Musharraf, go!" and "Friends of Musharraf are traitors" — flung bricks and sticks at policemen who blocked their path as they tried to march from one court complex to another, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
Musharraf ceded command of the military to a hand-picked loyalist, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani.
"I am sure Pakistan will grow stronger with me as civilian president and Gen. Kayani as army chief," Musharraf said.
Sadique al-Farooq, a senior leader of Nawaz Sharif's party, said he hoped that Gen. Kayani would "learn lessons from the mistakes of Musharraf, and will never think of indulging in politics."
In Washington, President Bush praised Musharraf for keeping his word by relinquishing his military post, calling it a "strong first step" toward enhancing democracy in Pakistan.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071129/ap_on_re_as/pakistan;_ylt=AlMl5ZXzxv9pD9EwJWImLxqs0NUE