Pakistan’s emergency rule to end by Dec. 16

President Pervez Musharraf promised Thursday to lift his emergency decree by Dec. 16, but opponents immediately expressed skepticism that he would fully roll back the repressive measures he imposed nearly a month ago.

The pledge came hours into Musharraf’s tenure as a solely civilian leader, which he touted as proof of his commitment to democracy.

Taking the oath of office for a new five-year presidential term in a morning ceremony, the former general defended his decision to declare emergency rule and chided the West for having “unrealistic” expectations about the nature of democracy in Pakistan.

Musharraf, considered a close U.S. ally, previously had resisted demands by the Bush administration and other Western governments to set a date for ending the state of emergency, which is akin to martial law.

In Washington, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said the administration welcomed Musharraf’s announcement.

She discounted questions about whether the decision was made under U.S. pressure, saying, “I think that he made this decision on his own.”

After the Nov. 3 declaration, Musharraf used his sweeping new powers to crack down hard on political opponents. Thousands of opposition party workers, lawyers and human rights activists were arrested, senior judges were fired, and media restrictions were imposed.

Some of those measures have been eased, but Musharraf’s critics say that unless the constitution is restored and fired judges given their jobs back, lifting the state of emergency will be a meaningless gesture.

“No one believes he will do these things,” said Hajira Sattar, a political activist who was jailed for a week in the wake of the emergency declaration. “And if he does not, then we are still under the thumb of a leader who now pretends to be a democrat.”

The country’s two principal opposition leaders, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, have demanded the reinstatement of fired Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, who is in effect under house arrest. Musharraf has ruled out such a step.

It was Chaudhry’s replacement, Musharraf loyalist Abdul Hameed Dogar, who administered the oath of office Thursday. Speaking to assembled dignitaries, Musharraf declared the occasion “a milestone in the transition of Pakistan to the complete essence of democracy.”

Later, in a televised address to the nation, the Pakistani leader promised that emergency rule would end more than three weeks before parliamentary elections, set for Jan. 8.

Bhutto and Sharif, together with other opposition figures, have said it would be impossible to campaign while the emergency decree was in effect.

“I am fully determined that the emergency will be lifted on Dec. 16,” said Musharraf, speaking in even tones and looking straight into the camera. “God willing, the election will be held . . . in a free and transparent fashion.”

Bhutto and Sharif have said they would refuse to serve in government while Musharraf was head of state. This month, Musharraf twice placed Bhutto, a former prime minister who returned from self-imposed exile in October, under house arrest. In September, he deported Sharif, the prime minister he had ousted in a 1999 coup, on Sharif’s first attempt to return after eight years in exile.

Musharraf handed over army command this week to a handpicked replacement, Gen. Ashfaq Kiani, whom he praised repeatedly in his speeches Thursday. Kiani inherits a full-blown Islamic insurgency in the northwestern tribal lands bordering Afghanistan and in the nearby Swat Valley.

More violence flared Thursday near the Afghan frontier, where a roadside bomb killed five soldiers. In the Swat Valley, military officials said, 11 civilians were killed late Wednesday when a shell aimed at militants hit a family compound.

Musharraf’s inauguration sparked the largest street protest in some days by lawyers, hundreds of whom clashed with police in the city of Lahore.

The lawyers movement considers the Pakistani leader’s new term illegitimate because the high court was apparently poised to throw out his election when Musharraf issued his emergency decree, forestalling the verdict.

“Any friend of Musharraf is a traitor to his country!” protesters shouted.

--

laura.king@latimes.com

Times staff writer James Gerstenzang in Washington contributed to this report.