Word: musharraf
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Within moments of being chosen Prime Minister of Pakistan's newly elected parliament on Monday, Yusuf Raza Gilani enacted the first of what is expected to be many reversals of President Pervez Musharraf's actions over the past year. And it is setting the stage for what could be an ugly showdown between the country's democratic forces and the dictator, who is also a major U.S. ally...
Declaring that democratic institutions will be the bedrock of his tenure, Gilani ordered the immediate release of the Supreme Court judges who had been detained since Musharraf declared emergency rule on November 3, when he suspended the constitution. Thirteen Supreme Court judges and 48 other judges had been detained amid a crackdown on civil liberties. "I order all the detained judges to be released immediately," Gilani told the gathered parliamentarians after the national assembly voted the majority Pakistan People's Party stalwart in as premier. "Our slain leader Benazir Bhutto sacrificed her life for the cause of democracy...
Moments later, supporters of the detained judges, which included Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, stormed the judges' residential colony in Islamabad and tore away security barricades and barbed wire, shouting "Go, Musharraf, go!" In his first appearance since his detention, Chaudhry appeared on the balcony of his house and calmly thanked the nation for the efforts to free him. His benign manner, however, could be misleading. If Chaudhry and his Supreme Court are reinstated - as the new coalition has promised it will be - Musharraf may find himself...
...Tuesday, a grim-faced Musharraf administered Gilani's oath of office at the presidential palace. For Gilani it was a moment of triumph - in 2001 Musharraf imprisoned the longtime Bhutto supporter for nearly five years on corruption charges. After the ceremony Musharraf told state-owned television that he would "always extend my fullest cooperation" to Gilani and the new government. But he may find that the new government has other plans...
Gilani will take on his new role at one of Pakistan's most difficult periods. The presidency of Musharraf is deeply unpopular. The PPP's coalition partner, the PML-N, has pushed for the Supreme Court judges dismissed by Musharraf last year to be reinstated - a direct threat to the President's rule. But a showdown with the man U.S. President George Bush calls Washington's key ally in the war on terror may distract the country from its fight against the Islamic extremists who have launched a wave of attacks against military, government and civilian targets over the past...