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| 13 April 2004 | Tuesday | 22 Safar 1425 |
Musharraf urged to retain uniform: Patriots' team meets president
ISLAMABAD, April 12: The Pakistan People's Party Patriots, a partner in the ruling coalition, has formally appealed to President General Pervez Musharraf not to quit the post of the chief of army staff in the larger national interests.
The appeal was made when a delegation of the party headed by Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal called on the president on Monday. However, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the chief of Pakistan Muslim League which heads the coalition government, described the move as an attempt to create a 'controversy about the president'.
He alleged that some people were conspiring to 'create problems for the government'. The Patriots delegation included Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat, Petroleum Minister Nouraiz Shakoor, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Muhammad Raza Hayat Hiraj, Minister of State for Sports and Culture Rais Munir Ahmed, and MNAs and MPAs.
After the meeting, which continued for over two hours, Rao Sikandar Iqbal said that a request had been made to the president to continue wearing his uniform because his decision to quit the office of the Chief of Army Staff before December 31 this year would lead to political instability.
An official announcement said the president thanked the delegation for their sentiments. When a member of the delegation was asked about the president's reaction to their request, he replied that only Rao Sikandar Iqbal was authorized to speak on the issue.
"The way President Musharraf has been meeting the challenges it has become imperative that he (president) may not doff his army uniform," Rao Sikandar Iqbal said after the meeting with the president.
"We have conveyed our sincere feelings to the president who has to take an appropriate decision keeping in view the best national interests. "The country may face threat if the president doffs his uniform," he said while responding to a question.
He said that keeping in mind the international scenario, especially the issue of Al Qaeda and the Wana operation, the president should not quit the post of the army chief.
"There is nothing in our demand which goes against the constitution," he said when it was pointed out that the matter of uniform had already been disposed of under the 17th Amendment of the Constitution.
Answering another question, he said: "Pervez Musharraf has full command of the situation and if he ceases to be in uniform, he may not be in a position to handle the situation in an effective manner."
SHUJAAT: President of the Pakistan Muslim League Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has said that President Musharraf is no more bound to shed his military uniform by Dec 31, 2004, following MMA's "breaking of promise" to support the government on the National Security Council (NSC) bill adopted by the National Assembly last week.
"The MMA leadership should be blamed for not fulfilling its promise to support us on the NSC. Therefore, I personally don't see any compulsion on the part of the president to oblige anyone regarding his military uniform," he said.
The chief of the PML, however, told Dawn that statements being made by some ministers requesting Gen Musharraf to continue to serve as the army chief beyond 2004 had nothing to do with the government and the ruling party. He described their statements as 'personal'.
"I believe some people are deliberately trying to create a controversy about President Musharraf and this is not good for the country and the democratic institutions," Chaudhry Shujaat warned.
"But we will never become a part of any controversy about the president," he said, alleging that some people were pushing a well thought-out 'conspiracy' to malign President Musharraf.
The chief of the ruling PML said that some people within the government were out to create problems for the government and that their statements could turn out to be fatal for democracy. He said that he would soon convene a meeting of his party to discuss the issue of statements being made by ministers belonging to the PPP Patriots on the issue.
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