September 18, 2007
Musharraf to Shed Uniform if Re-elected President By Muhammad
Najeeb
Islamabad
Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf will resign as chief
of the army staff if he wins presidency for the second term in the
coming elections, his lawyer told the Supreme Court Tuesday.
In a written statement submitted to a nine-member bench headed
Justice Rana Bhagwandas that is hearing six identical petitions
against Musharraf for keeping two offices, his lawyer Sharifuddin
Pirzada said that he would relinquish the post of the army chief
after winning the presidential elections.
"If elected for the second term as president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf
shall relinquish charge of the office of the chief of army staff
soon after election, but before taking the oath of office of the
president of Pakistan for the next term," Pirzada said while reading
the written statement in the court.
This is for the first time that any representative of the president
has admitted that Musharraf plans to contest the elections while in
uniform. Immediately after the statement was submitted television
news channels started debating why the president wants to keep the
army chief's office until his election.
The petitioners questioning the president before the court include
Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Tehrik-e-Insaaf chief
Imran Khan.
The court has announced that it would continue hearing the petitions
on a daily basis. The experts are of the opinion that the apex court
may announce its decision by the end of next week.
Media reports said the Election Commission was asked by the
government to announce the schedule for the president's election on
Monday but it apparently refused to follow the instructions as the
Supreme Court was hearing the case.
According to Pakistan's constitution, the election for the president
should be held "not before 60 days and not after 30 days" prior to
the expiry of the term. Musharraf's current term as president
expires on Nov 15, which means his elections should be held between
Sep 15 and Oct 15.
The popularity of Musharraf, who came to power in a 1999 coup after
deposing elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif, is going down since he
sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry earlier this year,
who was later reinstated by the Supreme Court.
On Sep 10 Musharraf also sent Sharif back into forced exile after
the former prime minister attempted to return to the country and
launch a campaign against the president's re-election.
Musharraf, desperate to retain power, is also negotiating a
power-sharing deal with another former prime minister Benazir
Bhutto, who has announced that she will end her self-exile and
return to the country on Oct 18.
Media reports say that the two have reached a "deal" under which
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) would not create any
hindrances in Musharraf's re-election.
As part of the deal Bhutto would be given a "free hand" in forming
the government after the parliamentary elections, due before Jan 15,
2008.
However, PPP criticised the statement from Musharraf's lawyer.
"We don't accept it... the current assemblies had no moral mandate
to elect Musharraf in uniform as president," said Raza Rabbani, an
MP of PPP.
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