President hints at giving up uniform before term ends: •Economic recovery by year end: •Parts of LFO negotiable
By M. Ziauddin
ISLAMABAD, April 24: President General Pervez Musharraf indicated on Thursday that he would be giving up his uniform long before completing his five-year presidential term.
Answering a question at a meeting here with newspaper editors and senior journalists from all over the country, the president said that in his opinion it would perhaps take him less than five years to give up his uniform.
He was asked if he thought he would need to keep wearing the uniform throughout his five year-term.
Earlier, in his opening remarks while explaining why he needed to continue to wear his uniform, the president said it was necessary for him to do so in order to help a smooth transition from military to civilian rule.
“We are at a take-off stage. I see light at the end of the tunnel. It will take about three to four years to turn the corner. Indeed, it may even happen by the beginning of December next year,” he said.
Many in the audience thought that perhaps he was giving an approximate time for his retirement from the army when he said the turn-around (in the economy) could take place by December next year.
President Musharraf said in view of the dangers that Pakistan was facing at the moment, internationally, regionally and internally, it was necessary for the time being for all institutions of the nation to present a unified front.
Most importantly, he said, he had a role to play in developing a concord between the military and the civilian sections of society.
In this regard, he said now he could meet and address the military leadership as frequently as he wanted, but this would not be possible without his uniform.
He said he himself was against the concept of one man holding the offices of both the president and the COAS and would want to correct the situation as soon as he could. “But do not ask me for a date. I do not want to give a date and then not keep it because of some unforeseen reasons. Leave the decision to me.”
When asked since he thought the LFO and his uniform were non-negotiable, why was he allowing the government to keep talking to the opposition on the matter, he said there were areas in the LFO which have elements of flexibility, “but I would not like to go into its detail here”.
He said the MMA knew which parts of the LFO were open to negotiations and they were, therefore, continuing the negotiations.
He did not think the PPP and the PML-N were interested in serious negotiations: “They get their guidance from outside and I know what they want.” According to him, PPP and PML-N leaders were only interested in getting a deal for their leaders in exile.
General Musharraf rejected the suggestion that there was any similarity between the case of Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad and Asif Zardari. “The Sindh governor did not have a single case registered against him where Zardari is facing a number of serious cases and the delay in reaching a verdict in these cases is happening because of Zardari and his lawyers.”
He said he did not regret his remark which he made in Lahore the other day about parliament members being uncivilized. He maintained that it was not obligatory for him to address the joint session.
Answering a question, he said even PhDs could behave in an uncivilized manner. “Education does not make one civilized.”
Answering another question, he said it was not he who had sent Mr Nawaz Sharif into exile. “They begged me and even brought pressure on me to send them out, and when I agreed, they went out happily.”
Discussing in detail the LFO in his opening remarks, the president divided the Legal Framework Order into three blocks and said the first block related to elections, the second to institutional strengthening, and he called the third block ‘contentious’, which included the issues of 58(2)B, the National Security Council and his uniform.
He gave his usual arguments to defend the 58(2)B and the NSC, and elaborated rather extensively his position on the matter of the uniform.
He did not agree with a suggestion that like his predecessors in Pakistan and military autocrats the world has seen over the ages, he too was taking the country to a point where there was a possibility of people and the army taking on each other which would seriously damage national interest.
Discussing Afghanistan, he said it was in the economic,political and social interest of the two countries that peace returned to Afghanistan.
He said if foreign troops left Afghanistan without first restoring lasting peace there, the country would once again fall prey to chaos as happened after the collapse of the Soviet Union” which would not be in our national interest.”
APP ADDS: Elaborating on the LFO, the president said the first block gave the country a new local government system, lowered voters’ age to 18 years, increased seats in assemblies and enhanced women representation.
If this part is done away with, the entire electoral process will come to nothing, he maintained and said the local government system solved problems of people at the grass roots.
Under the second block, he said, institutions had been strengthened. “The State Bank of Pakistan has been granted autonomy, and appointments of services chiefs and NAB chairman have been depoliticized.”
Referring to the third block, he said the 58(2)B Amendment was aimed at staving off misgovernance, and loot and plunder of national wealth. In the past, he said, presidents, prime ministers and army chiefs had acted beyond their mandates and powers. The National Security Council is a check on the president and it also removes the possibility of martial law, he added.
