Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf will give up his post of army chief if he is re-elected president and he will be sworn in for a new term as a civilian, his lawyer told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The promise to stand down as army chief removes a major objection to Musharraf’s proposed re-election by October 15.
United States ally Musharraf retained his army post after he seized power in a 1999 coup despite opposition calls to quit.
”If elected for a second term as president, General Pervez Musharraf shall relinquish charge of office of chief of army staff soon after election and before taking oath of office as president,” Musharraf’s chief lawyer, Sharifuddin Pirzada, told the Supreme Court during a hearing into challenges against Musharraf’s rule.
The date of a presidential election is expected to be announced this week. A national election is due by mid-January.
Giving up the army role would undoubtedly dilute Musharraf’s power in a country that has been ruled by generals for more than half the 60 years since it was founded.
But it could also help him cement a power-sharing agreement with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, that could enable him to overcome growing opposition to his continued rule.
Bhutto has said that any arrangement with Musharraf would depend, among other things, on him becoming a civilian president.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, secretary general of Musharraf’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML), told Reuters on Monday Musharraf would abide by the Constitution and quit the army before the end of 2007.
He was expected to take his oath of office as a civilian president before November 15, when his current term expires, Sayed said. – Reuters