COLOMBO, Aug 1: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said here on Thursday the real power in Pakistan after legislative polls due in October would rest with the newly-elected prime minister.
Briefing journalists ahead of signing a free trade agreement with Sri Lankan prime minister, the military ruler said he was not planning to run for the post “because I am not a politician.”
“The real power must rest with the Prime Minister of Pakistan,” Musharraf said. He, however, said he was not planning to bow out of politics.
“I may sound unusual but I think I have a role to play in bringing democracy to Pakistan,” said Musharraf, who called a referendum in May that saw him secure an extra five years as president after he won support from 97.5 per cent of voters.
Opposition parties boycotted the vote, calling it an unconstitutional farce, and continue to dispute the results, which Musharraf himself has acknowledged were flawed.
The president added that the National Security Council, which includes the armed forces chiefs, would oversee the civilian cabinet but “will act in a consultative capacity and only if national security is compromised, and to check corruption in Pakistan.”
NO CANVASSING: While wounding up a tour of arch-rival India’s neighbours, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Musharraf insisted he was not trying to canvass support in South Asia.
But as Pakistan and Sri Lanka signed an agreement to end all trade barriers between them by 2005, Musharraf blasted India over the dispute in Kashmir.
“Pakistan will continue to give moral, diplomatic, material and political support to Sri Lanka and cement already friendly ties,” the Pakistan leader said after talks with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
“We are not showing anybody anything. It (the trip) is nothing special; it is for our mutual benefit,” he said.
Wickremesinghe, who has been counting on Indian support for his bid to make peace with Tamil Tiger guerrillas, said Pakistan and Sri Lanka had been “good friends” for half a century.
Besides free trade, the two countries also signed agreements to boost cooperation in tourism, archaeology and cultural exchanges.
Musharraf arrived in Colombo on Wednesday from Bangladesh, where he paid the first visit to the former East Pakistan by a Pakistani military ruler.
Musharraf visited Nepal, another of India’s neighbours, in January for a summit of the seven-member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc).
The 15-year-old regional body has long been ineffectual due to the bitter rivalry between its two largest members, India and Pakistan.
Saarc is due to hold its next summit some time next year in Pakistan.
Musharraf said he hoped Saarc would not fall apart and was “reasonably sure all countries would respond” to the group’s mission of multilateral action. in clear reference to India.
KASHMIR: He denounced India’s stance on Kashmir, which is in the throes of militant freedom movement New Delhi says is backed by Pakistan.
“India is hypocritical and juggling with words. The reality is that the situation has reached a dangerous flashpoint with both sides nuclear,” he said.
“We want peace. We will not initiate war and we cannot compromise on our honour and duty and hope that good sense will prevail,” Musharraf said.
The Pakistani leader left Sri Lanka in the afternoon for Beijing, where he will hold talks Friday with Chinese President Jiang Zemin on the final leg of his five-day Asian tour.
Frances Bulathsinghala adds: President Musharraf, addressing Sri Lankan editors said Indo-Pakistan relations were experiencing their “lowest ebb.”
He pointed out that peace could come only when the Kashmir dispute was resolved according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people and in line with the relevant United Nations resolutions.
He hoped that the “world powers” would facilitate the peace process.
He also emphasized that de-escalation should go hand in hand with the initiation of an Indo-Pakistan “dialogue” on the basic issue of Kashmir.
When questioned regarding the opinion that Kashmir was a bilateral dispute which could not be internationalised, the president said the Kashmir dispute had “already been internationalized,” adding that it was “hypocrisy on the part of India” not to acknowledge this.” He went on to query as to what Colin Powell and Jack Straw were doing in Delhi and Islamabad if they were not discussing Kashmir.
“The whole world is concerned about Kashmir because it is a nuclear flashpoint,” Musharraf said.
To the question whether Pakistan was seeking an international “security umbrella,” Musharraf answered that peace would be ensured if India were to accept a No-War Pact, and jointly de-nuclearize the zone.
Commenting on Saarc, the Pakistani President opined that Saarc change its rules so that the absence of a member country should not result in the cancellation of any summit.
It is important that Saarc is not politicized, Musharraf further said. He said that India was “scuttling” and “politicizing” summits.
He said it was his “fervent hope” that the next summit, to be held in Islamabad, would be held.
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