rediff.com: Musharraf sworn in president for another five years

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday was sworn in as president for another five years, hours after he gave himself sweeping powers to enforce his amendments to the constitution.

Musharraf on Friday had revived the constitution, suspended in the 1999 bloodless coup, and touted as the return of civilian rule.

Chief Justice Riaz Sheikh administered the oath of office to Musharraf at a televised ceremony at the presidential residence, attended by top civil and military officials as well as diplomats, two hours ahead of the convening of the newly elected national assembly.

The 342-member national assembly began its session with reading of the Quran amid continuing uncertainty over the formation of the government in view of the fractured verdict in the October 10 general election.

The newly elected members stood in unison to take oath. The session was presided over by Elahi Bux Soomro, a former parliament speaker.

Before taking oath, the members debated the constitution with several legislatures speaking out against the changes made by Musharraf, which empower him to dismiss an elected parliament.

An official statement issued after the military ruler took the oath of office said "General Pervez Musharraf has entered upon the office of the president of Pakistan under the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

"Let it be known to all and sundry that General Pervez Musharraf has today taken the oath of office and has assumed the office of the President of Pakistan," it said.

Earlier, Musharraf had issued the "Removal of Difficulty Order" decree just after midnight, reviving the 1973 constitution. His new order said he would act as the chief executive till the new prime minister takes oath of office.

"The president as chief executive has revived the constitution of Pakistan except a few articles pertaining to the provincial governments, the senate of Pakistan, etc, with effect from November 16, 2002, which will be restored later," an official statement said.

In its revised form, the constitution contains most of the 29 controversial amendments Musharraf had announced in August in a Legal Framework Order.

In an apparent move to encourage defections from the mainstream parties to the government-backed Pakistan Muslim League, Qaid-e-Azam, Musharraf has not revived that part of the constitution, which barred defection of the members.

Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, top legal aide of the military government, was quoted by local daily Dawn as saying that the constitution "has been revived barring those provisions that deal with the senate, provincial governments, and chief ministers."

The military government has accepted the amendments to the constitution under the legislative powers, which were granted to Musharraf by the supreme court.

On Friday officials had said the newly elected members would take oath under the constitution as amended through the LFO.

This was strongly contested by various political parties, including the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan Peoples Party and the six-party religious alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal.

Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999 toppling the Nawaz Sharif government, took a similar oath of office in July 2001, before embarking on a visit to India to attend the Agra summit after ousting the incumbent President Rafiq Tarar.

The supreme court validated his coup on the basis of the doctrine of necessity and approved the title of chief executive for him.

As promised Musharraf held elections in three years on October 10, which resulted in a hung parliament.

The inaugural session of the national assembly was due to have taken place last week, but was delayed after some parties asked for some more time to form a coalition government.

The three parties, which won most of the seats --- the PML-Q, the PPP and the MMA --- have been negotiating for weeks to try and form a coalition government.

The PML-Q had on November 2 claimed that it has enough support from various parties to form the government.


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