ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is about to choose one of three options available to him to relinquish his office of the chief of the army and appoint a new commander in his place to lead the world’s fifth largest standing army.
According to sources close to Musharraf, Option One under the president’s consideration is that he immediately takes off his army uniform before re-election as president and make public the appointment of a new army chief to take charge on October 7.
Option Two is that he only makes the announcement that he will leave the military office on November 15, as provided in the Constitution, after his re-election as president in the third week of September. At the same time, he will nominate his successor.
Option Three is that Musharraf makes known that he will appoint the new army chief on October 7 and leaves the office after that, and his re-election as president will be held without uniform after this date but before October 15.
Whatever option the president chooses in the next few days, it is likely to be in line with a deal being stitched with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
“However, one strong view in the presidential quarters is that Musharraf’s re-election should be held as early as possible within the stipulated period, September 15-October 15,” a source says.
Whatever Musharraf’s decision, his legal advisers have made it clear during several rounds of in-house discussions that he can’t hold the office of profit after November 15 if he wants to remain president following this cut-off date.
He has been told that Article 43, which in one sense has been held in abeyance by Article 41 (7)(b), inserted in the Constitution by the 17th Amendment, would become operative on November 15.
It says: “The president shall not hold any office of profit in the service of Pakistan or occupy any other position carrying the right to remuneration for the rendering of service.”
Informed circles said it would be fine with the presidential camp if Bhutto’ s MPs, as per the deal, abstained during voting for Musharraf’s re-election.
“Our main concern is that they should not resign in any case as some other opposition parties would do,” one of them said.
These quarters frankly concede that Musharraf has very limited options in this difficult time and he is trying to get the best out of them. It is now inevitable that he can’t remain in uniform, they said.
They admitted that Musharraf’s aides have negotiated with Bhutto from a position of weakness.
“Had there been no March 9 blunder of filing the presidential reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohamed Chaudhry, Bhutto would have even agreed to re-elect Musharraf in uniform,” they added. — Internews
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