The Hindu : Musharraf to continue with his role

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 21, 2002

International

International

Musharraf to continue with his role

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD NOV. 20. Less than 14 hours before the Pakistan National Assembly is to elect the Prime Minister, the Pakistan President and Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Pervez Musharraf, tonight claimed to have put the nation on the ``on the right course'' during his three-year regime and vowed to continue with his role.

It was an address, the first after he took fresh oath as President on November 16 under the partially revived Constitution, meant to present a balance sheet of his three-year reign with a clear message. While the power would be transferred from the military to a civilian set-up, he would very much remain as President in uniform and expect the new set-up to continue with the ``good'' policies.

Attired in black sherwani (collarless full sleeve coat) Gen. Musharraf, in his 75-minute address, asked the people to recall the bleak scenario when the military ousted the then Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, in October 1999 and compare it to the "bright prospects" of today in all fields. He peppered his speech with statistics and reports in support of his argument.

Gen. Musharraf claimed to have fulfilled all the promises made to the nation and said now it was the duty of the elected representatives to help the country attain the place visualised by the founders.

He was scathing in his attack on the earlier four civilian governments saying they had failed to come up to the expectations of the people, as they could not function in a democratic manner.

They could not match the achievements of his regime. He said the country needed political reforms for the supremacy of democracy and maintained that in the past there was no system to check corruption and inefficiency and the people had no power to resolve their problems at the local level.

Foreign policy and relations with India figured in the passing. His Government, Gen. Musharraf claimed, was able to boost the prestige of the country at a very difficult time and said that now Pakistan had very good relations with all countries.

On relations with India, he asserted that his Government upheld the ``honour and dignity of Pakistan, did not succumb to Indian pressure and highlighted the Kashmir cause at all international fora". Pakistan also raised ``Islamic causes'', apprised the world of the utility of religious institutions and raised the issue of Indian atrocities against Muslims in Gujarat at the United Nations (U.N.).

Gen. Musharraf said that he had declared his assets when he took over and he was doing so today. He said he had made no personal gains and only drew the salary of the COAS and met his domestic expenses from this salary. He never drew salaries of the Chief Executive or the President. He never took any member of his family or any friend on pleasure trips abroad.

He staunchly defended the political reforms and restructuring by his Government and took credit for the controversial local government system. His Government made ``far-reaching constitutional reforms'' to keep a check on all powers and for the continuance of democracy and reforms. He asserted that the October 10 elections were "totally fair and transparent" and rejected allegations of pre and post-poll rigging. He claimed credit for what he termed as ``unprecedented freedom to the media''.

Gen. Musharraf hastened to add that the freedom should be exercised with a sense of responsibility. He said that his regime was successful in eliminating corruption at the top level and said not a single charge of corruption came to the fore during the last three years. "Of course, there were some allegations of corruption. But these were by thieves. I do not accept these charges," he said.

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