September 19, 2007
Musharraf To Leave Military Regardless Of Election Outcome
A senior member of Pervez Musharraf's ruling party has clarified that the Pakistani leader will be leaving his post as head of the military regardless of whether he is re-elected president this fall. Earlier this week, a lawyer for Musharraf said the president would only relinquish his military role if he won re-election, a statement that was met with swift and harsh protest from Musharraf's political and legal opponents.
"There's no going back for General Musharraf. Irrespective of whatever happens in his elections, he has decided to retire from the military," Mushahid Hussain, secretary-general of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League -- Quaid-e-Azam, said today. "There are no two ways about this.”
The clarification is considered a concession to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, with whom Musharraf has reportedly been working on a power-sharing deal. Today, the Economist parses the uncertainties of that deal amid Pakistan's ongoing political turmoil.
