ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: Retired General Pervez Musharraf was sworn in as a civilian president on Thursday, a day after he ceded the powerful post of the Chief of the Army Staff to Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar administered the oath at a ceremony held at Aiwan-i-Saddar.

In a departure from traditions, the president delivered a short speech at the ceremony.

“This is a milestone in transition to complete democracy,” the president said, claiming that all his actions in the new term would be, as in the past, in the interest of the country.

The president welcomed the return from exile of former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif and described it as part of his national reconciliation efforts.

“National consensus is the need of the hour and this is my inner belief that their return is good for the process of political reconciliation in Pakistan,” he said.

“I only hope that they will ... move forward toward a conciliatory, civilised, democratic and political environment in the future,’’ he said.

Referring to western countries’ demands to lift emergency and media freedom, the president said that the country would adopt a system of governance according to its particular environment and needs.

“There is an unrealistic, unpracticable obsession on your part to expect us to ape your form of democracy, human rights and civil liberties,” the president said.

“What the West has adopted and gained took centuries to achieve, and they expect Pakistan to adopt it in a matter of months and years.

“This is not possible. We want democracy, we want human rights, we want civil liberties, but we will do it our way, as we understand our society, our environment better than anyone in the West,” the president declared.

“We will do it and we will reach the objective but we request you to remain with us, help us change direction ... we will gradually keep shifting course, help us do that,” he said.

The president said a change could not be suddenly imposed and society needed to be transformed gradually. Otherwise, he warned, it could lead to anarchy, disruption, chaos, confusion and breakdown.

“One can’t sacrifice the stability and development of the nation for the sake of your views on democracy, civil liberties and human rights,” the president said.

He said during the past eight years he had to face a lot of challenges, including confrontation and standoff on the eastern border for a year and the menace of terrorism.

He said the military had now broken the back of terrorism from remote tribal lands on the Afghan border into so-called settled areas.

“We have to defeat terrorism, there is no choice. Failure is not an option,” he said.

The president said that some elements of the judiciary tried to derail the third phase of democratic transition which could have led the nation to chaos.

He said it was necessary to stop state institutions from clashing with each other, including judiciary, executive and parliament, and to deal with the rising trend of terrorism.

He said some elements in the media also misused the freedom and to overcome the situation, extraordinary measures were needed as half-hearted efforts would not have brought the desired results. He said it was a difficult choice which was against his wishes but he personally felt that it was essential in the interest of the country.

’’I had to act, and I acted in the interests of Pakistan,’’ he said.

Referring to some political parties which were talking of boycott, the president said that elections would be held on Jan 8, come what may.

He said he had introduced the essence of democracy in Pakistan through local government system, empowered them financially, administratively and politically.

He praised the Supreme Court for giving a verdict which legitimised his election to the office of the president.