ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Pakistan’s Pervez Musharraf is to swear in the nation’s former top spy to succeed him as army chief, a move that would bring civilian rule a step closer after his sweeping presidential election win. Pakistan’s Pervez Musharraf is to swear in the nation’s former top spy to succeed him as army chief, a move that would bring civilian rule a step closer after his sweeping presidential election win.
Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless military coup in 1999, swept to a landslide victory in Saturday’s controversial presidential vote, boycotted by almost the entire opposition. The general, a key US ally, had promised to stand down as the head of the powerful army and become a civilian leader if he won another five-year term, amid growing US pressure for a return to democratic rule.
He tapped as his designated successor Lieutenant General Ashfaq Kiyani, who will be sworn in later Monday as deputy chief of the military, a move that takes Pakistan a crucial step closer to a return to civilian rule.
“He (Kiyani) will assume charge of his office on Monday and traditional ceremonies will be held in this regard,” top military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP. But Musharraf is unlikely to relinquish his role and hand over to key loyalist Kiyani immediately.
The president must wait at least nine days for a Supreme Court ruling on the legality of the election, which was held in the national parliament and provincial assemblies, before the result is declared official.
A court ruling against Musharraf could push him over the brink after months of political turmoil and persuade him to declare martial law. Musharraf insisted at the weekend that his “great victory” was democratic, rejecting claims that abstentions by former premier Benazir Bhutto’s party and resignations by other opposition MPs made it illegitimate.
“Democracy means majority, whether there is opposition or no opposition,” he told reporters, referring to the overwhelming win. But he refused to rule out emergency action if the court overturns the result, saying: “Let them come to their decision, then we will decide.
” The court says it will start hearing the challenges against the election on October 17, the end of the Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Fitr and the day that Bhutto is due to board a plane back to Pakistan after years in exile. Musharraf has been at loggerheads with the court since his botched attempt in March to remove the nation’s chief justice, a move that sparked mass protests and sent the president’s popularity plummeting.
He is also battling a wave of Islamist violence that was unleashed when government forces stormed the Al-Qaeda-linked Red Mosque in Islamabad in July.
In a bid to boost flagging support, Musharraf signed an amnesty deal with two-time prime minister Bhutto on Friday as a prelude to a power-sharing pact ahead of a general election that is due by January 15 at the latest. Bhutto, who fled Pakistan to avoid corruption allegations, has demanded Musharraf hang up his military uniform as a condition for the pact.
Kiyani, who led the government side during talks over the pact with Bhutto’s aides, will take over as deputy chief of army staff in a ceremony at military headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Arshad said.
Kiyani, a former head of the shadowy Inter Services Intelligence, tasked with tracking down Al-Qaeda operatives and maintaining internal security, will also be presented with a guard of honour at his new office, he said.