By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : President General Pervez Musharraf will finally take oath as civilian head of state Thursday after doffing the military uniform, his spokesman said Monday.
“The president will quit as army chief on Wednesday and will take oath as president on Thursday,” Musharraf’s spokesman Rashid Qureshi told mediapersons here.
He said that before quitting as army chief, the president will pay farewell visits to army garrisons in different cities Nov 27 and 28 in keeping with the military tradition.
Musharraf’s way to presidency as civilian ruler was paved by the friendly judges of the Supreme Court who validated his candidature for the second five-year consecutive rule.
Musharraf took over power in Oct 1999 after overthrowing the elected government of Nawaz Sharif, who returned to the country Sunday after seven years of exile in Saudi Arabia and Britain.
Sharif, who heads the former ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), announced Monday that he would not participate in the January 8 polls if emergency imposed by Musharraf Nov 3 was not lifted. He also said he would not be prime minister if Musharraf continued as president.
Musharraf was under tremendous national and international pressure to quit the army chief’s post, to which he was appointed by Sharif in Oct 1998 but with whom he developed sharp differences after the Kargil misadventure.
Though Sharif and his party candidates filed nomination papers for the January polls, they said their boycott of the polls was still on cards. Sharif is scheduled to discuss the issue with his partymen Tuesday before sitting in a meeting with other opposition leaders.
His arch rival and another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto too had said earlier this month that she cannot work as prime minister with Musharraf.
Political analysts see difficult times ahead for Musharraf as both the mainstream political leaders who had been prime ministers twice have rejected to work with him.
They think that Musharraf may not survive long as president after doffing the military uniform. They believe that he as president may not have the same say and support from the army as he enjoyed since Oct 1999 after sacking Sharif and his government.
At the same time, the PML faction that ruled the country for five years under Musharraf has denied party support and tickets to Musharraf’s handpicked politicians that also includes former prime minister Shaukat Aziz.
An insider of PML-Quaid-e-Azam faction said that Musharraf has clearly told them they will not be getting any more support from presidency or the army after he takes oath as civilian president.