March 6, 2008 Pakistan Army Backs
Musharraf,
Urges Harmony among Leaders
Islamabad
The Pakistani Army has reiterated support for the embattled
President Pervez Mushrraf despite his political allies' rout in last
month's parliamentary election.
A false impression was being created about "distancing of the army
from the president," army chief General Pervez Kiyani told a Corps
Commanders' conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi Thursday.
A statement from the military's Inter Services Public Relations
department said: "Kiyani was optimistic that there would be a
harmonized relationship between various pillars of the state, as
provided in the constitution, in order to maximize national effort."
Pakistan's armed forces have been giving unrelenting support to
former army chief Mushrraf since he took over in a bloodless coup in
1999. But things have changed since late last year when the
president doffed his military uniform amid increasing international
pressure.
Some local media reports suggested that Kiyani had recently pressed
Musharraf for resigning from the post following the defeat of his
supporters - but he dispelled the impression.
"Highlighting the need for understanding, Kiyani pointed out that
any kind of schism, at any level, under the circumstances would not
be in the larger interest of the nation," the statement said.
The army fully stood behind the democratic process and was committed
to play its constitutional role in support of the elected
government, it added.
Mushrraf's main political backer, Pakistan Muslim Leagues-Quaid (PML-Q),
gained only distant third position in the Feb 18 general elections
in which slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan
Peoples Party (PPP) emerged as the largest party.
Getting short of majority seats in the parliament, the PPP has been
forced to form a coalition with the runner up, Pakistan Muslim
League's faction headed by the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Ousted in 1999 by Musharraf, opposition leader Sharif has demanded
immediate resignation from the retired general.
He has also called for the restoration of the former chief justice
Iftikhar Chaudhry and around 60 other senior judges who were removed
under an emergency order Nov 3 by the president in a bid to prevent
the judiciary from disqualifying him for the next presidential term
on the grounds that a serving military official was ineligible for
contesting elections.
Musharraf has seen a sharp decline in his popularity since he
proclaimed the emergency.
The opposition parties were set to announce their candidate for
premiership at the weekend. The fate of the controversial president
would lie in the hands of the incoming parliament, which has the
authority to impeach him and throw him out of the power.
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