General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s military ruler, on Thursday went back on a pledge to relinquish his military leadership by the end of the year, with the enactment of a law allowing him to remain head of the army beyond December.
Ministers in the pro-Musharraf government said the move, bitterly opposed by Pakistan’s opposition parties, including the powerful Islamist alliance, was essential for the “stability and integrity” of Pakistan in the light of its ongoing war on terrorism. Mr Musharraf has narrowly avoided a number of assassination attempts by Islamist groups.
Earlier this week Mr Musharraf, who has developed close ties to the Bush administration, celebrated five years at the helm, having taken power in a bloodless coup in October 1999. The opposition boycotted the vote in the national assembly shouting “go, Musharraf, go, Musharraf” while its leaders described Thursday’s move as a second bloodless coup.
“With this step, the military falls into total disrepute,” said Aitzaz Ahsan, leader of the Pakistan People’s party, which is headed by Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister, who lives in exile. “How can you have General Musharraf make a promise repeatedly and then go back on his word?”
Imran Khan, the cricketer, who is also a member of the assembly and was previously a supporter of Mr Musharraf, said: “This vote exposes the total facade of democracy in Pakistan. Pakistan’s opposition parties will have no choice but to unite against General Musharraf on the streets.” But senior officials in Islamabad claim the move is backed by the majority of Pakistan’s 140m people, large numbers of whom have little respect for mainstream democratic parties. “General Musharraf has given stability to this country,” said Sheikh Rashid, information minister. A senior official said: “The people have seen 11 years of democracy before General Musharraf’s coup. They know that the political leaders represent corruption.” However, Thursday’s step, which comes on the eve of the month-long Islamic fasting period of Ramadan , and which is traditionally a time of relative political calm, is not likely to go down well abroad.
Officials are confident it will not provoke strong censure in Washington, with the Bush administration treating Mr Musharraf as an important ally in its hunt for senior figures in the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
But Pakistan was this year readmitted as a full member of the Commonwealth on condition that Mr Musharraf restored full democracy. Pakistan The country’s opposition leaders are making little secret of their wish to see a victory for John Kerry, the Democratic challenger, in US polls next month. “If Kerry wins there will be a lot more pressure on Pakistan, including on democracy and on nuclear proliferation,” said Enver Baig, a senator with the PPP.
