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.
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I just don’t get why everyone is asking for democracy, when the two opposing frontrunners are who have been thrown out of the government twice.
When will we learn? We are just all frustrated and due to that logic thinking goes out of the window.
And this frustation is not due to Musharraf, it has been due to being a failed state since inception. We have dug the grave for ourselves and now everyone is trying to climb out at the same time.
In the current scenario, I don’t see anybody apart from Imran Khan to be beneficial to Pakistan. Unfortunately, the majority of the population fail to realize who will serve them best.
Steve LeVine
I agree 100% what you said. Then question is why? Answer is for Pakistan. Some of Previous leaders have chosen to leave country by taking all the money from Pakistan. Or they have simply left pockets of Pakistan empty with mismanagement of money.
This guy worked hard for Pakistan and he did not want to leave in the hands of the people who have bad records. Now we had produced some new leaders and new examples things would have been diffrent.
And Pakistan must fight extremism out of Pakistan and Mushraf is the man to do it. Extremism should be taken as 1st priority and should be eliminated from Pakistan.
Alah Bless Pakistan
Musharraf would not have resigned without having set up a system in which he remains the essential player. I don’t think it’s prudent to predict his early political demise.
Steve LeVine, author
The Oil and the Glory (Random House)
http://www.oilandglory.com
First time in history of Pakistan people of Pakistan stayed home. Media , advocates , politicians and enemy of Pakistan all tried best to bring them into streets. Even enemy of Pakistan spent money to destabilize Pakistan,
People of Pakistan went with truth. They felt there was something honest about Mushraf and that kept them home. They had the past history. They knew what they were given in past for their struggle.
Allah Bless Pakistan
RE:
There is no free lunch. There is cost associated with bringing in new leadership. You can’t just throw away the people into the Black Sea. The easiest and least cost route is to let the political parties function in an environment where loyalty to the COAS is not the key criterion, but the will of the people. And let this process continue without hindrance and break, even with the same set of leaders we have. Else the cost would be very high and we have been paying the cost for the last 60 years.
Yes there will be another coup if politicians take out money from Pakistani Banks and fail to perform their duty and act uncivilized. Its very important Pakistan produce new credible politicians.
Some people are predicting that there would be yet another coup in a few years that would once again derail the entire process and bring military back into the corridors of power. The history of Pakistan over the last 60 years bears testimony to it. Yet it might not really happen for various reasons.
Each such military take over has its costs, and in my view the costs are rising for many reasons. 1) When Ayub Khan took over there were many countries in the world that were not democratic, which later became democratic such as South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Spain, Nepal, Iran, Russia, Central Asian States, Eastern Europe and many others. A few countries were still colonies of the West such as Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. In 1999 when Musharraf took over many of these countries had become democratic or were in the process of becoming one, and as such there was few colonies left if any. In the future whenever the military takes over, a few more countries would be even more democratic than before. Thus it would not be possible for the next military dictator to be as blind in his ambitions as they have been before because of all the international pressure, which we know very well plays big part in countries such as Pakistan, which have strategic importance and location. 2) Our civil society, no matter how nascent, is taking shape now as is evidenced by the recent movement in favor of the CJ. That civil society is only going to become stronger with the passage of time. 3) The courts have been showing more and more independence over time. Its not the first time that the executive had problems with the Judiciary. Both NS and BB had their own shares of the problem. Yet even after both decimated any challenge to their authority in the courts, courts became more powerful over time. Under CJ Iftikhar, they were the strongest so far. And judging by the reaction of the people it seems that this decimation by Musharraf is just a blip in the rising graph of judicial independence.
All these things raise the cost of a military take over. No wonder the cost had become so high that first time in the history of the country, a sitting COAS ruler had to take off his uniform, which is no mean achievement. I hope, and there are indicatons that it will, the costs would rise further and in future a military hemlsman might even have to loose his life to impose a martial law.
After Mohammad Ali Jinah only strong leader Pakistan has experienced is Mushraf. A true worker. What he did for Pakistan will be remembered in coming years. He was under pressure and he did what he thought was right for Pakistan.
A good leader never comes under pressure. A true solder does everything in favor of his country.
Many prayers for respectful Mushraf.
Now I request our politicians one can laugh at them. Act sober and civilized. Keep Pakistan on your top list.
Allah Bless Pakistan