Finally Musharraf sheds uniform

A new chapter is about to begin in Pakistan. Pervez Musharraf has finally decided to shed his uniform and become the civilian President. Only time will tell if Pakistan is ready for this dispensation. Too much is at stake for the Pakistani Army as well as the political parties that clamour for genuine democracy but have repeatedly failed the people. 

RAWALPINDI - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf stepped down as army chief amid pomp and ceremony on Wednesday, finally bowing to international demands to end eight years of divisive military rule.

In a day that many Pakistanis thought they would never see, a stony-faced Musharraf handed over the baton of the powerful army and its nuclear arsenal to his deputy, General Ashfaq Kiyani, at a farewell parade.

In a bid to ease global and domestic outrage over his November 3 imposition of a state of emergency, Musharraf will be sworn in as a civilian president on Thursday.

"I will not be in uniform tomorrow," Musharraf, wearing his medals and a green sash, told hundreds of invited guests and dignitaries, confessing to feeling "a little sad".

"After remaining in uniform for 46 years I am saying goodbye to this army. This army is my life, this army is my passion. I have loved this army."

Buglers announced Musharraf's arrival at a stadium at army headquarters in Rawalpindi and then, to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne," an honour guard escorted him and former spy chief Kiyani to their position on a dais.

Many of the dignitaries and invited guests applauded as Musharraf picked up the baton from a wooden and brass stand and placed it in Kiyani's outstretched hands, in a ceremony broadcast live to the nation on television.

He betrayed little emotion at drawing the curtain on a career that has seen him serve as a commando, fight in two wars with rival India and finally, in a coup in 1999, topple a civilian government.

Musharraf hailed Pakistan's armed forces as the best in the world and said he had full confidence in Kiyani.

"The armed forces of Pakistan are an integrating force, they are a binding force for the country and they are the saviours of Pakistan," he said.

But Musharraf, who has become a key US ally, will face further pressure at home and abroad to lift emergency rule imposed more than three weeks ago ahead of elections set for January 8.

His resignation from the military meets a key demand of the international community that had until recently been happy to back Musharraf as long as he kept up the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taleban.

US President George W. Bush and other Western leaders have called on him to quit as army chief, lift the state of emergency, restore the constitution, release political detainees and end curbs on the media.

But how Musharraf fares politically without his military role depends on the continued backing of Kiyani, a pro-Western, chain-smoking loyalist, and the strength of Pakistan's opposition parties.

"Musharraf is going to be far more vulnerable than he has been to this point," said Farsana Shaikh, a Pakistan analyst at the London-based think-tank Chatham House.

"He certainly risks facing an unruly parliament which may well decide to take revenge."

Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf ousted eight years ago, and Benazir Bhutto, another ex-premier, are both jockeying for position ahead of the elections.

Both are mulling a boycott of the polls, saying an election would be unfair if held under emergency rule, and any opposition coalition could leave Musharraf politically isolated.

Musharraf imposed the state of emergency citing rising Islamic militancy and an unruly judiciary.

Critics charged that he wanted to purge the Supreme Court of hostile judges to ensure they would not overturn his victory in last month's presidential election.

Sharif and Bhutto, both of whom have served two terms, have vowed never to serve under Musharraf in a future government -- although the law currently bars them from serving a third term.

Bhutto said she knows and respects Kiyani, who once served as her military aide.

"He is a good professional and will prove to be a good full-time leader of the armed forces," she said late Tuesday.