Pak caretaker govt sworn in, opposition rejects
Saturday, 17 November 2007
ISLAMABAD (AFP): President Pervez Musharraf swore in a new caretaker government to lead crisis-hit Pakistan toward elections, as a senior US official was flying in to press him for an end to emergency rule.
The new government, headed by a close ally, was swiftly rejected as "not acceptable" by former premier Benazir Bhutto, who vowed to pursue efforts to force the military ruler from office.
US Deputy Secretary John Negroponte, the most high-ranking US official to visit Pakistan since the crisis erupted two weeks ago, was expected to meet Musharraf as well as other officials over the weekend.
Washington has been signalling its growing impatience with Musharraf over his refusal to end the state of emergency, which he imposed on November 3 citing growing Islamic militancy and a meddling judiciary.
Musharraf hailed the outgoing government for stabilising Pakistan as he swore in the interim set-up, led by caretaker premier and Senate chairman Mohammedmian Soomro.
"I take pride in the fact that, being a man in uniform, I introduced the essence of democracy," he said at the ceremony, dressed in a traditional black tunic instead of his army uniform.
Parliament dissolved at midnight on Thursday after completing a five-year term for the first time in the nuclear-armed nation's turbulent history.
Musharraf has vowed legislative elections by January 9, although opposition leaders say emergency rule would make them a sham and are considering whether to boycott the polls.
But he insisted Pakistan had made enormous strides since he seized power in a coup in 1999.
"Certainly the glass is not half full. Certainly we have a thousand things to do. But we have to be proud of the fact that we have made an almost empty glass to the half-full level," he said.
Hours earlier authorities withdrew a seven-day detention order on Bhutto, who had been confined behind barbed wire barricades at an aide's house in the eastern city of Lahore since Tuesday.
She came out with guns blazing, calling for a "people's revolution" to end Musharraf's eight-year rule. "This caretaker government is an extension of the PML-Q and is not acceptable," she told reporters, referring to his party.
Bhutto said she was in talks with key political leaders, including exiled premier Nawaz Sharif, to try to form a united opposition front to replace the government.
"I believe it is hard to build a coalition but I will take on the task. I talked to Nawaz Sharif and told him that I am discussing with all leaders the formation of an interim government."
Bhutto said Negroponte should threaten to cut US aid to force Musharraf to budge.
"I would like to see aid used as a leverage to influence General Musharraf as well as the armed forces which have a core national interest," she told Britain's Sky News television.
Pakistan's outgoing premier Shaukat Aziz, a Musharraf loyalist, downplayed the "routine" visit however and said Islamabad would not be bossed around.
"Pakistan is a sovereign country and no one can dictate to it," the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan quoted him as saying in an interview.
"He comes here regularly. There is no harm in seeking someone's opinion."
Senior US government officials quoted by the New York Times have said they fear Musharraf may fall and Washington should work on contingency plans with Pakistan's military elite.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates even questioned his future effectiveness as a US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Musharraf's "ability to continue to be a partner in the war on terror very much depends on how events unfold over the next few weeks in Pakistan," Gates said.
Meanwhile, a few hundred people carried out several anti-emergency rule protests in Lahore, and in Peshawar in the northwest police used tear gas and baton charges to break up supporters of an Islamic alliance of parties.
The new government, headed by a close ally, was swiftly rejected as "not acceptable" by former premier Benazir Bhutto, who vowed to pursue efforts to force the military ruler from office.
US Deputy Secretary John Negroponte, the most high-ranking US official to visit Pakistan since the crisis erupted two weeks ago, was expected to meet Musharraf as well as other officials over the weekend.
Washington has been signalling its growing impatience with Musharraf over his refusal to end the state of emergency, which he imposed on November 3 citing growing Islamic militancy and a meddling judiciary.
Musharraf hailed the outgoing government for stabilising Pakistan as he swore in the interim set-up, led by caretaker premier and Senate chairman Mohammedmian Soomro.
"I take pride in the fact that, being a man in uniform, I introduced the essence of democracy," he said at the ceremony, dressed in a traditional black tunic instead of his army uniform.
Parliament dissolved at midnight on Thursday after completing a five-year term for the first time in the nuclear-armed nation's turbulent history.
Musharraf has vowed legislative elections by January 9, although opposition leaders say emergency rule would make them a sham and are considering whether to boycott the polls.
But he insisted Pakistan had made enormous strides since he seized power in a coup in 1999.
"Certainly the glass is not half full. Certainly we have a thousand things to do. But we have to be proud of the fact that we have made an almost empty glass to the half-full level," he said.
Hours earlier authorities withdrew a seven-day detention order on Bhutto, who had been confined behind barbed wire barricades at an aide's house in the eastern city of Lahore since Tuesday.
She came out with guns blazing, calling for a "people's revolution" to end Musharraf's eight-year rule. "This caretaker government is an extension of the PML-Q and is not acceptable," she told reporters, referring to his party.
Bhutto said she was in talks with key political leaders, including exiled premier Nawaz Sharif, to try to form a united opposition front to replace the government.
"I believe it is hard to build a coalition but I will take on the task. I talked to Nawaz Sharif and told him that I am discussing with all leaders the formation of an interim government."
Bhutto said Negroponte should threaten to cut US aid to force Musharraf to budge.
"I would like to see aid used as a leverage to influence General Musharraf as well as the armed forces which have a core national interest," she told Britain's Sky News television.
Pakistan's outgoing premier Shaukat Aziz, a Musharraf loyalist, downplayed the "routine" visit however and said Islamabad would not be bossed around.
"Pakistan is a sovereign country and no one can dictate to it," the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan quoted him as saying in an interview.
"He comes here regularly. There is no harm in seeking someone's opinion."
Senior US government officials quoted by the New York Times have said they fear Musharraf may fall and Washington should work on contingency plans with Pakistan's military elite.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates even questioned his future effectiveness as a US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Musharraf's "ability to continue to be a partner in the war on terror very much depends on how events unfold over the next few weeks in Pakistan," Gates said.
Meanwhile, a few hundred people carried out several anti-emergency rule protests in Lahore, and in Peshawar in the northwest police used tear gas and baton charges to break up supporters of an Islamic alliance of parties.