Word: musharraf
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Certainly, Musharraf is taking no chances with the referendum. The government, which is spending nearly $28 million on the campaign, is so worried about an embarrassingly low turnout that it has reduced the voting age from 21 to 18 and set up 87,000 polling stations, including mobile booths at bazaars, bus stops, airports, offices, even prisons. At a rally in Peshawar last week, the nearest Musharraf supporters?including his own government officials?were kept 50 m away from the elevated stage, which was surrounded by commandos brandishing automatic rifles. Riot police were poised to charge, but the crowd...
...Whatever love there might have been is diminishing among many liberal and moderate Pakistanis who previously supported Musharraf. They now compare him to the late, hated dictator General Zia ul-Haq, who in 1984 initiated a constitutionally questionable referendum to legitimize his rule. Likewise, some industrialists have grown disillusioned with Musharraf. They claim government officials threatened them into backing the referendum; to show their support, they sponsored huge banners praising the President. Exorbitant tax bills were presented to those who claimed other political loyalties. "Everybody is terrified," says a Karachi businessman. "We don't want our businesses to be destroyed...
...major political and religious parties have stood against the vote, but quietly, because opposition rallies are banned. Qazi Hussain Ahmad who heads the Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's largest religious party, was arrested briefly last week after calling the referendum "farcical" and trying to lead a small protest. Musharraf has also been attacking the country's exiled former Prime Ministers, as they are the only rivals who might muster significant political support. "Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto have no role in Pakistani politics, this should be clear," he declared in a recent televised speech. Pakistan People's Party leaders claim...
...message is clear: so long as Musharraf stays in lockstep with Washington's antiterror objectives, he can do pretty much what he pleases at home. Privately, however, U.S. officials have expressed reservations about the referendum. "It doesn't seem like the greatest tactic," says a State Department official. "It'd be better if he just let the Parliament make him President." But real democracy is a messy, unpredictable business. "It does not simply mean elections," says political scientist Rizvi. "It also means you must compromise, and you may lose some power." That, for now, is not something Musharraf is willing...
...Parliament by jihadis linked to Pakistan put a crimp in the style of the D-Company. India moved 1 million troops to the border and demanded the return of 20 fugitives, including Dawood and Shakeel, and five other men from Bombay who masterminded the 1993 blasts. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says he has no knowledge that they're living in his country. They shouldn't be that hard to find. I still have their Pakistani phone numbers and addresses from 1999. Musharraf has privately told U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell that the non-Pakistanis on India's list would...