Incumbent Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf took oath as a
civilian president at a ceremony in Islamabad Thursday, one day
after he gave up the post of army chief.
Musharraf took the seat at the center of a hall along with Chief
Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar at the ceremony at the Aiwan-e- Sadr, or
presidential house, which witnessed a gathering of hundreds of
VIPs.
"I believe in the unity of Pakistan and ... all the teachings of
the Holy Koran," Musharraf said as the chief justice, sitting in
front of ceremonial guards and between national flags, administered
the oath.
The 64-year-old retired general also delivered his first speech
as a civilian president shortly after signing the oath papers,
saying that the last two or three days had been emotional for
him.
"I have given up my military post after 46 years in uniform," he
said, referring to his resignation as chief of army staff the
previous day.
Musharraf joined the Pakistan Military Academy in 1961 at the
age of 18 and rose through military ranks to major general in 1991.
He became the chief of army staff in 1998, thus taking over the
command of the army.
Musharraf staged a bloodless coup that displaced the then Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif and took the reins of the country as chief
executive in October 1999. He first assumed presidency in 2001,
which was later confirmed in a 2002 referendum that give him a
five-year term.
Musharraf was re-elected in presidential polls on Oct. 6 this
year and, as he had previously pledged, resigned as army chief and
handed over the military command to succeeding army chief General
Ashafaq Parvez Kayani.
"I believe Pakistan will grow stronger with me as a civilian
president and General Kayani as the chief of army staff," Musharraf
said Thursday.
The officially retired general said he was breaking the
convention in pushing for Pakistan's transition from military to
civilian presidency.
"My taking oath as civilian president is a milestone in the
transition to democracy," he told the gathering at the ceremony
that included caretaker Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro and his
cabinet, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, services chiefs,
province governors and caretaker chief ministers, judges,
diplomats, religious personalities and officials.
Musharraf said Pakistan, under a state of emergency since Nov.
3, was "coming out of the storm" and that "the process of
derailment of democracy has been checked." He also noted economic
turnaround of the country in recent years.
He further said the return of the exiled opposition leaders and
former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto was good for
political reconciliation in Pakistan, while making it clear that
elections were to be held as scheduled despite any boycott.
The opposition, including Bhutto's and Sharif's parties, were
still considering the option of boycotting the general elections,
although they have both allowed party members follow them to file
nomination papers.
(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2007)
