So finally, General Pervez Musharraf would become Mr. Pervez Musharraf on Thursday when he will be sworned in as a civilian president at the Aiwan-i-Sadr, Islamabad (13th president of Pakistan). Gen. Musharraf will retire after occupying Chief of the Army Staff post for more than nine years. Given a choice, I am sure he would have loved to continue for another 5-10 years and beat the record set by late Gen. Zia. But anyways, Musharraf paid farewell visits to Joint Staff, Air and Naval headquarters today where he met senior military officials one last time as COAS. Former DG ISI, Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani will take over as new Chief of the Army Staff from Thursday. ATP readers who wish to know more about Gen. Kayani may find this bbc article very interesting.
Musharraf is taking his uniform off at a time when he has become highly unpopular, country is under unnecessary Martial Law, judiciary has been completely destroyed, lawyers and civil society are on the streets protesting against him, media is under severe curbs and he hardly has any friends left anywhere. It would be interesting to see how Gen. Musharraf survives in future as a civilian president.
He would require endorsement of PCO and all his actions since November 3 from newly elected assembly, if elections are held, which will be an uphill task and I really don’t see HOW it will happen unless Q-League wins again.
But then again, anything is possible in Pakistan. Who knows, Q-League wins with a heavy mandate this time after brilliant performance of 5 years in power.
According to Daily Times:
President General Pervez Musharraf would take oath as civilian president at 11am on Thursday, but before this he would relinquish charge of chief of army staff (COAS) to start his second term as president of Pakistan.
“Yes, he is going to take oath at 11am on Thursday,” Musharraf’s spokesman Maj Gen (r) Rashid Qureshi told Daily Times on Monday. He also confirmed that the Ministry of Defence had issued a notification of his retirement as army chief after being in office for nine years.
Farewell: Defence Ministry sources said Musharraf would start holding farewell meetings today (Tuesday) – a clear indication that he had decided to call it a day. “Musharraf will meet top military commanders, principal staff officers and senior colleagues,” defence sources said. The formal handing over of charge to his successor is also part of the farewell proceedings, they added. The sources said Musharraf was fulfilling the promise he made to the nation and the Supreme Court of vacating the army post before taking oath as president. Preparations for the ceremony to mark the change of army command are underway, and a formal ceremony will take place at General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, defence sources said.
After the completion of the ceremony, the Defence Ministry will announce the appointment of the new chief of army staff, sources said. A special meeting of corps commanders is expected before the handing over ceremony, they added.
Born in 1943 in New Delhi, Musharraf enrolled in the Kakul Military Academy in 1961. He was commissioned in the Artillery Regiment in 1964. Former premier Nawaz Sharif appointed him as the country’s 13th army chief on October 8, 1998. On October 12, 1999, he ousted Sharif in a bloodless coup and bundled him off to Saudi Arabia on December 10, 2000. On October 7, 2001, Musharraf extended his military term, which is supposed to be a three-year tenure post, for an unspecified period. After the late General Ziaul Haq, who was army chief for more than 12 years from April 1, 1976 to August 17, 1988, Musharraf’s tenure as army chief has been the longest. Last week, the new SC judges validated Musharraf’s victory in an October 6 presidential election, clearing the way for him to serve a further five years in office.
Army security, staff to stay: Sources said President Musharraf’s security would remain entrusted to the army, even after taking oath as a civilian president. A special contingent of Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group, headed by a brigadier, has been tasked with ensuring Musharraf’s security. General Musharraf has also decided to retain his current military staff after resigning as army chief, it was learnt. This includes a full time military secretary, deputy military secretary and deputy chief of staff.
It is too early and premature to say what legacy Gen. Musharraf is leaving as COAS and how he will be remembered. Only time will tell. After all, he is still going to rule us for another 5 years (atleast he thinks that way). So what if he is wearing a suit this time. But lets just hope that Gen. Kayani stays away from politics and takes serious steps to improve the deteriorating image of Pakistan Army.
Aqil Sajjad:
It seems like that NS would also boycott the elections.
@ Another progy joined BB
Awami National Party decides not to boycott the
elections. left is becoming “vendu”
Foreign Media
Editorial in Washington Post
http://tinyurl.com/3cm4ln
Aqil Sajjad,
@the contents of your comment need to change the
noun, if just replace Mushy with BB, you don’t have to
change a “word” even a letter !!
between us Mushy is a snake, is BB a bambi ??
The following is from the latest issue of the emergency times.
The snake may slough its skin, but it DOES NOT lose its venom. The man with a stick still has a job to do - an unfinished job that he can ignore only at his peril. You know what I mean.
He has changed his skin. No doubt.
But look at the venom – the threat posed to sustainable foundations of good governance in this country. Look at the language: “Kiyani and I will take good care of this country… The judges, and the ex-Chief Justice were involved in a conspiracy to derail the third phase of democracy… I am honored by the nation which has put its trust in me”
Not in our name, please. Someone is saying, in the name of the nation, that, after all, it was the judges who were conspiring. Wasn’t someone an army officer in his 45th year of service trying to grab the chief civilian post of power? When the case went to the highest court of the land, and it looked as they wouldn’t be able to provide constitutional disguise to this blatant mockery of justice, someone put more than half of all the serving higher judiciary of the country in illegal detention, stormed the court premises to pick up thousands of lawyers from within court premises (I saw this with my own eyes in Lahore), filled up the courts with the choicest amongst incompetent imposters. And then the imposters spoke in Law’s name what someone had always wanted them to speak, and even though an overwhelming majority of the people spoke against them. And to crown this ‘process of justice’ someone just shouted his oath taking cue from the whisperings of the chief of puppets, who sounded just so ashamed of himself.
The snake of course, is never ashamed. It knows no course of action other than what it does. It has a nature that cannot be helped. If there is anyone to blame it is the man with the stick, who scares the snake but then backs off taking heart from the snake’s new skin leaving his job undone.
Woe to him who thinks that the snake in new skin is safe and even worth honor and appreciation. By the Lord of Heaven and Hell full of snakes, as long as a snake is up and beating, viciously willing to spew venom at innocent victims, no one is safe. The nation is not safe. A job half-done demands completion. Where is the man with the stick? Don’t back out now, please.
Talawat Bokhari,
@ we shall call it “Mauqa parasti Bezamiri, Iqtidar ki
Hawiss”, some call it a “maslehat”,
your self explained sher should be read perhaps like this :
Jalal-e-Padshai ho ya Jamhoori Tamash ho
judah ho deen Stalin say, to reh jati hay bus BB
I am glad I don’t live in California.
This man, Musharraf, is ruthlessly vindictive and revengeful. Emergency plus nafaz kar ke us ne apne mukhalifin se chun chun kar badle le liey jo uska maqsad tha. Opposition waale hameshah ki tareh lakir peette reh gaey aur ab to woh election se bhi faraar ka soch rahe hein. Behtar to yahi ho ga kih woh is mouqeh ko haath se nah jaane dein aur awaam ko mobilize karein sirf ek nukati agende par aur woh nukta ho adliah ki bahaali ka. Agar adliah bahal nah hooiy to sab kuchh bekaar he kionkih jeise Allama Iqbal ne farmaya he:
“Jajaale padshaahi ho kih jamhoori tamaashah ho
Juda ho deen (meaning adl-o-insaf) syaasat se to reh jaati he Changezi”