President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, on Thursday took the presidential oath and began his second term as president, this time without his ubiquitous uniform, following Wednesday’s ceremony in which he stepped down as head of the army.
After the swearing in, Musharraf took the unconventional step of using the ceremony to comment on the current political situation in the country. He started by promising that free and fair parliamentary election would be held on January 8 under the supervision of international observers.
However, no word was given on when the emergency rule that he imposed some three weeks would be lifted. In this time, dozens of supporters of Musharraf’s political opponents have been arrested, in addition to the replacement of the chief justice and other judges who did not endorse the implementation of emergency rule.
The decision to disband the Supreme Court was met with fury by Pakistani lawyers who have been at the forefront of violent protests against the emergency rule. There were similar protests during the swearing-in ceremony in the major city, Lahore.
In a remark aimed towards the West Musharraf said that he was in favor of democracy and human rights but said: “We will do it our way, in our time. We understand our society, our environment, better than anyone in the West.”
He continued by saying that he welcomed the return of his main political opponents Benazir Bhutto and Nawas Sharif. Both returned after several years of exile due to corruption charges leveled against them.
Bhutto, who returned a month ago, was rumored at the time to have entered a power sharing agreement with Musharraf, but since the implementation of the emergency rule she has distanced herself from the president. Sharif was given a much rougher welcoming when he tried to return some six weeks ago. He was arrested at the airport and returned to exile, only managing to return a few days ago.