PAKISTAN: Musharraf sworn in as civilian president
Updated
Pakistan's former army chief, Pervez Musharraf, has been sworn-in as a civilian president. Mr Musharraf stepped down as head of the Armed Forces yesterday, ending eight years of military rule. Pakistan's main opposition parties and U-S leaders, have welcomed the move, but are insisting the President must also lift the state of emergency before the January elections.
Presenter: Barbara Miller
Speakers: US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice; Peter Mayer, Associate Professor of Politics at Adelaide University
BARBARA MILLER: In Washington, the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, welcomed the move, but said President Musharraf must do more.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE: It is extremely important that Pakistan get back on a road to democracy, a road that, by the way, President Musharraf himself has helped and aided with a freer press and with civil society.
But the decision now needs to be taken to end the state of emergency, to allow free and fair elections to take place. That will be the way for true stability for Pakistan.
BARBARA MILLER: Pakistan's two main opposition figures, former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, also repeated calls for the President to end almost four weeks of emergency rule.
Zaffar Abbas, a commentator with Pakistan's Dawn newspaper says, in the short-term at least, the President can expect loyalty from the military.
ZAFFAR ABBAS: The new army chief is likely to remain indebted for a long time. He was extremely junior to General Musharraf. All other commanders are quite junior to General Musharraf. They owe it to him that they got the promotion and where they are sitting at the moment is largely because General Musharraf brought them there.
Secondly, General Musharraf was quite keen to encourage and promote such army commanders which were close to his own thinking. To say that he has lost that constituency right away after shedding his uniform is asking a bit too much.
BARBARA MILLER: Peter Mayer says in the long-term things could become a little difficult for Pervez Musharraf.
PETER MAYER: The army is more important than any individual, and Musharraf may at some point be judged by the army to be expendable.
So I think we'll need to wait and see on that.
BARBARA MILLER: Do you think the international community will now start courting the new head of the army?
PETER MAYER: Undoubtedly. Not so much courting him, but certainly seeking to work with him. The real national interest, so to speak, of everyone involved in Pakistan is obviously the operations in Afghanistan, but also to keep up pressure on the Taliban in the western mountainous parts of Pakistan, and to try and help the Pakistani army become effective in dealing with what is now a very, very serious security threat to Pakistan itself, and to the army itself.
BARBARA MILLER: Do you think we've seen the beginning of the end of Pervez Musharraf?
PETER MAYER: I think that's really hard to call that. I would certainly say that I expect him to be around for a couple of years yet, but so many things may happen.
He's crafty, he's fast on his feet, he's a short-term tactician. I don't think he's very good at the long-term. Whether in a year from now we'll see him as so secure, I'm a little more doubtful about that.
