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Ruling PML(Q) celebrates Musharraf’s victory

— Photo: AFP/ PRESS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Saturday after the presidential poll General Pervez Musharraf said: “I bow my head in front of God Almighty and thank him for giving me such a great victory.” Wearing civilian clothes instead of his military uniform, General Musharraf called on the Opposition parties to accept the outcome and urged them not to destabilise the frontline state in the U.S.-led “war on terror” by holding strikes or protests.

ISLAMABAD: Fireworks lit up the evening sky over the Pakistan capital as the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Q) celebrated General Pervez Musharraf’s victory in the presidential election on Saturday, shrugging off concerns that the Supreme Court could cut the triumph short by ruling against his candidacy.

President Musharraf swept the poll as almost all votes cast were in his favour, following the resignation from the electoral college of all Opposition parties except the Pakistan People’s Party earlier in the week and a last-minute decision by the PPP to boycott the vote.

The PPP’s decision not to participate in the election despite having a candidate in the fray came after several senior members voiced concern at a meeting on Friday that a “reconciliation deal” between their leader Benazir Bhutto and President Musharraf, mainly withdrawing corruption cases against her, damaged the party’s interests.

They reportedly conveyed to Ms. Bhutto, who is planning to end her self-exile and return to Pakistan later this month, that staying in the contest could only hurt the party’s interests more, and the least it could do to save face was to boycott the proceedings.

On Saturday morning, PPP Parliamentary leader and the party’s presidential candidate Makhdoom Amin Fahim led a walk-out in the National Assembly when it met before the joint session with the Senate during which the voting was to take place, and stayed away when the voting began.

“We have decided to abstain. We will not participate in the vote, because it is meant for a candidate contesting in uniform,” Mr Fahim said.

Party rebel Aitzaz Ahsan, who led an anti-Musharraf lawyers’ agitation earlier in the year, described the vote as a “form of election, not a real election.”

“Gen. Musharraf has been denied legitimacy by the entire Opposition not participating in the election. He cannot secure any confidence from this election. It is not a controversial election — it is no election. It’s zero + zero + zero + zero,” he said.

The boycott lifted the spirits of the PPP and its supporters somewhat after the visible demoralisation among senior members following the agreement between Ms. Bhutto and President Musharraf for the promulgation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance.

After all the tough talk from Ms. Bhutto that she was driving a hard bargain with President Musharraf to ensure a transition to a civilian democracy and the supremacy of Parliament, all that the ordinance promises, apart from a cursory nod for free and fair elections, is withdrawal of corruption cases against her, her husband, and several of the party faithful, including former bureaucrats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a Musharraf ally, also stands to benefit from the ordinance.

But if President Musharraf or the PML(Q) was concerned that not a single Opposition parliamentarian was present in the National Assembly during the voting, it was not on display.

It was open house at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the President’s official home, where he received a stream of dignitaries offering congratulations. The PML(Q) held its own celebrations with drums and fireworks.

“The overall atmosphere in which the voting took place was orderly. Ninety-nine per cent of the votes cast were in favour of President Musharraf. The whole process shows that the electoral college voted in support of another five-year term for President Musharraf. It augurs well for democracy, for consistency and continuity of the government’s policies,” said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

He said it was “disappointing” that the PPP did not participate in the voting, but called it part of democracy.

“Everyone has the right to decide whether or not to cast their vote. Yes, the PPP had a responsibility to vote, especially as they had a candidate in the elections. By not taking party, they have defranchised their voters,” he said, but added it made no difference to President Musharraf’s fortunes as he was not dependent on votes from outside the ruling coalition.

PML (Q) secretary-general Mushahid Hussain Sayed was also upbeat about the election.

“Yes, with Supreme Court decision on the candidacy pending, there are some question marks. But on the whole, the court allowed the election to go ahead from the same assemblies and allowed President Musharraf to contest the election.”

Mr. Sayed expressed the hope that the court would not rule against him.

“An election has its own dynamics. It will create its own legitimacy,” he said, adding President Musharraf’s promise to go civilian also added to the credibility of this election.

Even ruling party rebels such as the former Tourism Minister Nilofer Bakhtiar, who earlier threatened not to vote for President Musharraf if he contested in uniform, changed their mind.

Ms. Bakhtiar, who resigned following a controversy over her hugging a man, said she voted for Gen. Musharraf, despite her concerns, because he promised to step down as Army chief after the election. Also, President Musharraf was the only Pakistani leader who had made efforts to improve the lot of women, she said.

A call by the Opposition parties grouped under the All Parties Democracy Movement for a shutter down strike had no impact except in parts of Balochistan. In Peshawar, anti-Musharraf lawyers, who took out a protest march to the North West Frontier Province Assembly, threw stones at the Assembly building and torched a police vehicle as the police tried to break up the demonstration with batons and teargas. Lawyers took out protest marches in other cities too, including Lahore. In the capital, security was tight but not overwhelmingly so. A small group of human rights activists demonstrated outside the National Assembly building as voting got under way.

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