ISLAMABAD :President Pervez Musharraf is a ‘relic of the past’ standing between the people of Pakistan and democracy and there is tremendous pressure on the new government to ensure his ouster from office, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said.

Though Musharraf still has considerable powers, including the ability to dissolve parliament and dismiss the prime minister, the Pakistan People’s Party-led ruling coalition has to abide by the wishes of the people who want the military ruler to leave his post, Zardari said.

“The President is a relic of the past and he stands somewhere between us and democracy…He has taken off his uniform thanks to the dialogue by my (late) wife (and former premier Benazir Bhutto) and the world pressure,” Zardari told Press Trust of India in an exclusive interview.

“But that does not make him (Musharraf) into a democrat or a civilian president. That doesn’t mean that his presidency is legal. I’ve got all these issues. I have a tremendous amount of pressure from the people of Pakistan.”

The public, Zardari said, is telling the PPP that “we don’t want bread, we don’t want electricity, but we want him out”.

Zardari’s comments even as a presidential spokesman asserted that Musharraf would not step down in the wake of reports that the government is finalising a package of constitutional amendments that is aimed at curbing the President’s sweeping powers. Sources close to the President also dismissed reports that he had offered to resign if the government validated actions taken by him during last year’s emergency rule.

Pointing out that he is a politician who is “amenable to my people”, Zardari said the PPP is working to “come up with a live-able formula” for ushering in full-fledged democracy because “after all that has happened, you cannot have an unelected and non-democratic President”.

“You just cannot,” he emphasised. “Now no matter whether I like it or don’t like it, or whether he (Musharraf) likes it or anybody else doesn’t like it, I have no choice.

“For two months, I have been trying to do a whitewash or whatever you may call it to dialogue with the people of Pakistan and my party. That okay, let’s have national reconciliation, but people are not willing to accept my position on that.”

Asked if Musharraf’s days as President are numbered, Zardari replied: “I don’t know whether his days are numbered or my days are numbered or our government’s days are numbered. Who knows that?

“He still has 58(2b) and he has a tremendous amount of power behind him. If he moves, he moves,” he said, referring to the President’s powers under Article 58 (2b) of the constitution that allow him to dissolve an elected parliament and thus dismiss the prime minister.

“So like my little daughter Bakhtawar would say, if you move, I move,” Zardari said, adding that the “bottomline” is that the people of Pakistan want Musharraf to go. “And I am the servant of the people, not the master of the people,” he said. (More)

Political circles in Pakistan have even abuzz over the past few days with reports of the constitutional amendment package, which is expected to do away with Article 58(2b) and balance the power equation between the president and the prime minister.

It is also expected to introduce strict punishment for subverting the constitution by imposing emergency and to remove the president’s powers to appoint the three service chiefs, provincial governors and the chief election commissioner (CEC).

Zardari said he had not seen the constitutional package that is being prepared by Law Minister Farooq Naek but indicated that it would curb the President’s sweeping powers and address “core issues” like Article 58 (2b) and the need for an autonomous Election Commission.

“It’s a very complex issue after all. You’re talking about the future of Pakistan, the future of democracy and about the future of the constitution. So lots of ifs and buts have to be counted,” he said.

“There’s no point in me working hard, giving my life, fighting terrorism, asking the parliament and the Pakistani people to make sacrifices if you’re going to be sent home in two years,” he said, in an obvious reference to the president’s power to dissolve parliament.

Since his supporters were routed in the February 18 general election, Musharraf has offered to work with all political parties in the ruling coalition while insisting that he would complete his five-year term as he is a “constitutionally elected president”.

Political leaders have opposed Musharraf’s continuation in office, saying he was elected in October last year for a second term by an electoral college comprising the outgoing national and provincial assemblies. They have also said Musharraf should have sought re-election from the new assemblies chosen in the general election.

The PPP’s main ally PML-N has been pressing for Musharraf to resign. Zardari’s comments mark a significant shift from the PPP’s earlier stand that it would forge a working relationship with Musharraf. PTI RHL.

Zardari also indicated that the issue of reinstating the judges sacked by Musharraf during last year’s emergency would be tackled through the constitutional package.

The issue has already created strain between the PPP and PML-N, which withdrew its nine ministers from the federal cabinet after failing to achieve the restoration of the deposed judges by the self-imposed deadline of May 12. PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has said his party will only offer issue-based support to the government.

Asked if the coalition is still strong, Zardari evaded a direct reply and said: “Any political relationship is always based on self-interest. Coalition partners in politics is a very selfish phenomenon. Obviously, the popularity game and the game to win hearts is a two-way race and whoever wins win.

“So therefore everybody does, some less and some more, these (things so) that they can show a perspective of themselves that can get them more populist positions. That jostling between our party and Nawaz’s party goes on.”

Zardari said that while he considered Musharraf’s acts during the emergency as illegal, he would “do another illegal act to (change) the last one”.

“So instead of going for a police action to restore the judges as is being suggested, I’d rather take another path towards democracy and engage the present incumbent President (and say), ‘That fine, let’s talk shop and give me back all the rights that you hold against the parliament’ and that also by dialogue. NNI

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