Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf said on Sunday a general election will be held by January 9 — but under a state of emergency he imposed eight days ago.
Musharraf, under pressure from rivals and Western allies to put Pakistan back on a path to democracy, said the National Assembly and provincial assemblies will be dissolved in coming days, upon completion of their terms.
The army chief also told a news conference he will quit the military and be sworn in as a civilian president as soon as the Supreme Court strikes down challenges to his October 6 re-election. He said he hopes that will happen as soon as possible.
Musharraf, who said last week the election would be held by mid-February, said it is up to the Election Commission to decide on the date of the vote, but added it has to be within 60 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly on November 15.
He also noted a Shi’ite Muslim period of mourning, when sectarian violence traditionally rises in Pakistan, is due to begin on January 9. ”We should have elections before January 9,” he said. ”I very much hope it will be before January 9.”
Before Musharraf declared emergency rule on November 3, setting off a storm of criticism, elections had been expected by mid-January.
Since suspending the Constitution, Musharraf has sacked most judges, locked up lawyers and rounded up most of the political opposition and rights activists, justifying his steps by saying the judiciary was hampering the battle against militants and interfering with governance.
Diplomats say Musharraf’s main objective in imposing the emergency was to stop the Supreme Court ruling his re-election invalid, upholding rivals’ protests that he was ineligible to contest while still army chief.
Musharraf declined to say when the Constitution will be restored or the emergency lifted. The emergency reinforces the battle against militants and will ensure fair polls, he said. ”It will ensure also fair and transparent elections because we are not going to interfere in the process of the elections,” he said.
He also said he expects the politicians and activists detained over the past week to be freed to take part in the elections, although no one will be allowed to ”create anarchy in the name of democracy”.
‘This is history’
The government says 2 500 people have been detained during the emergency, although opposition leader Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party says 5 000 of its activists were picked up.
It remained to be seen if Musharraf’s announcements will satisfy either his allies or opponents.
United States President George Bush, who values Musharraf as an ally in the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban, has said he expects Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless 1999 coup, to quit the army, become a civilian leader and hold elections.
Bush said on Saturday that he took the Pakistani leader at his word. ”He knows my position,” Bush said. ”I do remind you that he has declared that he’ll take off his uniform and he has declared there will be elections, which are positive steps. We also believe that suspension of the emergency decree will make it easier for the democracy to flourish.”
The US is worried the turmoil will hamper its nuclear-armed ally’s efforts against terrorism. Pakistani forces are battling a growing Islamist insurgency along the Afghan border — where Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding.
Bhutto earlier left Islamabad for the eastern city of Lahore, where she plans to begin a mass protest on Tuesday unless Musharraf rolls back emergency rule and restores the Constitution. She has also called for the reinstatement of sacked judges, but Musharraf ruled that out.
Bhutto’s supporters and other activists have clashed with police, who have used batons and tear gas in various parts of the country, but there has been no major violence.
Musharraf said caretaker governments will be set up as soon as the assemblies are dissolved. ”This is history, ladies and gentlemen, because this is the first time all the assemblies will have completed their terms,” he said. — Reuters