WASHINGTON, Aug 22: The US State Department said Thursday that the constitutional reforms President Pervez Musharraf announced this week could make it more difficult to build strong democratic institutions in Pakistan.

State Department spokesman Philip Reeker told a briefing in Washington that the United States “wants full democratic civilian rule to be restored in Pakistan” and “believes that President Musharraf wants to develop strong democratic institutions in his country.”

“However, we are concerned that his recent decisions could make it more difficult to build strong democratic institutions in Pakistan,” said Reeker.

“So we intend to remain fully engaged with Pakistan as it continues its efforts to restore democratic rule,” he added.

He said it was extremely important that Pakistan hold free and fair national and provincial elections in October, as already announced. “And we hope that following such elections, President Musharraf will take advantage of a new opportunity to develop a dialogue with elected civilian officials and consider the best way forward, consistent with existing constitutional requirements.”

Asked if President Musharraf should reconsider his constitutional reforms, Reeker said that judging from many of his statements, the United States believed that Musharraf wanted to develop strong democratic institutions in his country.

“We think ultimately the people of Pakistan are going to have to decide how Pakistan moves forward on these issues. We’re concerned that some of these recent announcements could make it more difficult to build strong democratic institutions in Pakistan. So that would be obviously something to be taken into consideration.”

Reeker said the United States would remain engaged with Pakistan on this issue and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage will discuss these and other topics with Musharraf when he visits Islamabad on Saturday.

Q: Could you walk us through these steps or these signs that make you believe that President Musharraf wants to develop democratic institutions?

Reeker: No, I’m not going to walk you through various steps. We’ve done it all before. We’ve talked about his speeches. We’ve talked when the secretary was in the region and the deputy secretary was in the region. We’ve listened to what he’s said. We’ve heard his calls for movement toward democracy, for the majority of Pakistanis to stand up against the extremist minority and reject that type of extremism, which threatens to take Pakistan down the wrong road. So we’ll continue to be engaged with President Musharraf, with Pakistan as they continue their efforts to restore democratic rule. And to that extent, as I indicated, we think that the elections that were announced are going to be an extremely important part of this process.

Q: What specifically about the constitutional changes would make it more difficult to build strong democratic institutions?

Reeker: I’m not going to try to delve into all the specifics of the things he announced. You’ve done your own reading and your own analysis. We’ve looked at this, and we’re concerned that some of these decisions could make it more difficult to build strong democratic institutions in Pakistan. Ultimately, the Pakistani people need to determine how to move forward with this.

Q: You keep saying that the Pakistani people will have to decide, but the effect of these changes is to deny them the opportunity to decide very much. How are they going to decide under these circumstances?

Reeker: Again, as I indicated, we have some concerns about some of these recent decisions and how that could affect the ability to build strong democratic institutions in Pakistan. And so we’re going to remain engaged and discuss this. The deputy secretary of State will be there. One of the things he can discuss is this, as we look for a process forward. I don’t think I can add anything more for you at this point.

Q: The Indians reportedly are upset because they believe infiltration continues to take place. And they’re wondering whether the United States is persuaded Gen Musharraf has done all that he can to stop infiltration into Kashmir?

Reeker: President Musharraf has assured us, as we’ve said before, that support for infiltration across the Line of Control would be ended permanently. As Secretary Powell has said since he made that commitment, infiltration has decreased. Ensuring that this support is ended permanently needs to be the highest priority for Pakistan. And again, with the deputy secretary in Islamabad in just a couple of days time, he’ll be stressing these points during his meetings in Islamabad.

Q: You continue to emphasize the fact that you expect Musharraf to take advantage of the elected parliament to modify some of these proposals. But he has already declared himself president for five years. When is he going to do that?

Reeker: I’ll reiterate once again that we think it’s extremely important that those elections be held, that they be free and fair, and then take advantage of that to move forward again on steps consistent with existing constitutional requirements to see a strong set of democratic institutions built in Pakistan.

Q: What consequences will these reforms have on Pakistan’s relations with the United States?

Reeker: The consequences will be for Pakistan. They need to focus on developing democratic institutions, as I described. That’s our view. That’s what we’ll continue to talk about. We’ve made quite clear that we think that’s important.

Q: A phrase used by President Musharraf was “democratic dictatorship.” Do you think it’s possible to have a democratic dictatorship?

Reeker: What we want to see is a movement toward full democracy, towards a restoration of strong democratic institutions in Pakistan. That’s what we’ve said for many, many months, years. We’ve been repeating it here in our daily dialogue. We believe it’s of vital importance that full democratic civilian rule be restored in Pakistan.

Q: You just said that the consequences were for Pakistan. Does that mean that there are no consequences for the United States?

Reeker: I’ve made quite clear what we think is important. I’m not going to speculate about things in the future. We’ve said what we think is important. We’ll continue to be engaged on that. And we’ll do that through all diplomatic means. I think President Musharraf has expressed a positive road for Pakistan in his speeches earlier this year, and we’ve expressed our support for the view that full, democratic civilian rule should be restored in Pakistan.

Q: The feeling in Pakistan is that the US government has been looking the other way, supporting him, encouraging him and has really not exercised any kind of pressure on Musharraf to democratize Pakistan. What do you say?

Reeker: I think I’ve said it multiple times already, again today, what our position is. It’s the position that Deputy Secretary Armitage will be reiterating when he meets with Pakistani officials. We’ll continue to stress that. We’ve made known our concerns. We’ve made known what we believe is of vital importance for Pakistan. And we’ve made quite clear that part of the war on terrorism includes looking for democracy, because where there’s democracy, there’s less opportunity for extremists and terrorist enterprises to thrive.