Musharraf not to form party, but will stay: Constitution being examined
By Tahir Mirza and Masood Haider
WASHINGTON, Feb 15: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Thursday ruled out forming a political party or seeking elections, but said how his term as president could be constitutionally extended was being examined.
Speaking at a news conference for Pakistani reporters at the Pakistan Embassy shortly before leaving for Dulles Airport to catch a commercial flight home, Musharraf said: “I never said I will not go beyond three years; I only said I would hold elections within three years as mandated by the Supreme Court.”
When asked about his earlier comments that he thought he had a role to play beyond the October elections, Gen Musharraf said he had no personal ambitions, and people just had to believe him. But democracy had to be sustained. “If I go, I know it will slide back. We must consolidate.”
He believed strongly that the military should not intervene, but he wanted things to move forward in an orderly manner.
Gen Pervez Musharraf described himself “to a great extent satisfied” with his three-day visit to the United States that concluded on Thursday evening and during which he met President George Bush and won agreements on debt retirement and renewal of military-to-military contacts.
He said people had the habit of setting expectations too high and then feeling disappointed when these were not met. One should be realistic, he said.
But he felt that Pakistan’s needs would continue to be addressed, and while no progress had been made on the F-16 issue, a defence consultative group had been set up where discussions would continue. It should be noted, President Musharraf said, that Pakistan had come out from almost a “pariah” status to a place of respect in the international community.
When President Musharraf was asked to elaborate on remarks made at a Washington lecture that political parties should not be permitted to indulge in international politics, he said he had meant that you cannot fight other people’s battles and start jumping into the fray in other Muslim countries.
Some religious organizations had assumed the “thekedari” of Jihad in many countries and had become active participants in international politics. Such meddling was wrong, he added.
He said organizations like the Jaish-i-Mohammad and Lashkar-i-Taiba, both of which have been banned, had been found to have links even in places such as Chechnya.
The President stressed that he still considered the resistance of the Kashmiri people to Indian oppression as a freedom struggle. He said the Inter-Services Intelligence, however it might have been manipulated by the political leadership in the past, was under military command and no one could dare to go against the government’s wishes. It was wrong to call ISI as a government within a government.
The president ruled out any adverse effect on the Pakistan-China relationship because of Islamabad’s growing ties with the US, pointing out that Mr Bush was himself shortly due to go to China. He also referred to the Chinese prime minister’s recent visit to India, and said it had not affected Beijing’s ties with Islamabad.
In response to a question about troops withdrawal by India, President Musharraf said: “We took an action in our national interest and banned Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jaish-i-Muhammad, the two organizations India was accusing of attacking its parliament. After my Jan 12 speech (where these bans were announced), they (India) should have withdrawn troops from our borders themselves. They did not. They have their political reasons too.
“They have this list of 20 people now. I am not going to do their bidding. As for the withdrawal of troops from the borders, it is our own deterrence that they had come and they have realised that there is nothing they can do because of our strength.
“They have to go back. They will have to create their own face-saving: we cannot give it to them. They came of their own accord so they have to find a rationale for going back.” Earlier, addressing the National Press Club as its luncheon speaker, Gen Musharraf said his US visit had come at a time when the world’s focus was on Pakistan.
“Everything seems to be happening in and around Pakistan. We are in the eye of the storm. We have now to weather our ship out of the storm at full scale into the open sea of opportunities. That is the challenge we face .. On the one extreme, we have much to lose. But on the other extreme correct decisions may propel us into the dynamism of the 21st century.”
When asked what would be Pakistan’s possible reaction if the US, as part of its war on terrorism, launched military action against Iraq, Iran or North Korea — Mr Bush’s axis of evil — or terrorist groups in other countries, the general said Pakistan was not going to go around getting involved in other parts of the world.
At his news briefing with Pakistani journalists, the general was asked about the apparent contradiction between America’s readiness on the one hand to act as a facilitator in Pakistan-India disputes and on the other its insistence that the disputes should be settled bilaterally.
He said: “Frontally, there is bilateralism, but behind the scenes, there’s facilitation. That’s what’s happening, and we are thankful for the help provided by Secretary (of State) Colin Powell in defusing tensions.”
At the Press Club, President Musharraf, replying to questions on the Kashmir issue, had said if bilateralism did not work and if there was insincerity (on the Indian side), “then may I suggest that mediation and facilitation is the only choice, and I believe in the Kashmir dispute that is the case”.
He said Pakistan would pull back its troops from the border as soon as India did so, although he did not see any evidence of that right now. However, the situation might change after elections in some Indian states now underway.
WASHINGTON, Feb 15: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Thursday ruled out forming a political party or seeking elections, but said how his term as president could be constitutionally extended was being examined.
