ISLAMABAD - President Pervez Musharraf on Sunday pledged his full support to Pakistan’s new coalition government led by his political opponents, who have vowed to take on the embattled US ally.
Musharraf, speaking at a military parade marking Pakistan’s national day, hailed the start of what he called a “real democratic era” in the country, plagued for months by violence linked to Al Qaeda and Taliban militants.
“Whichever new government is formed, it will have my full support,” Musharraf said, adding that he hoped the new administration would maintain peace, economic growth and vigorously combat terrorism and extremism.
The man set to become Pakistan’s new premier -- former parliamentary speaker Yousuf Raza Gilani, who was nominated by the party of slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto -- on Sunday promised to deliver following his party’s big election win.
“I can only assume that we are here to deliver -- we are not here just to stay for a period,” Gilani told reporters outside parliament, where he filed his nomination papers ahead of Monday’s election for the premiership.
“Inshallah (God willing) we will deliver and there is a will and there is a hope.”
Gilani was named on Saturday by Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party as its candidate for prime minister, more than a month after the PPP won the most seats in general elections.
The party has agreed to form a coalition government with the party of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by Musharraf in a coup in 1999, and other smaller groups who trounced the US-backed president’s allies in the February 18 polls.
Party officials said top coalition members including Gilani were set to meet on Sunday ahead of Monday’s parliamentary session to elect a new prime minister -- a vote which Gilani is almost certain to win.
When asked how the new government would handle Musharraf, the 58-year-old Gilani, a low-key but stalwart aide to Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari, replied: “I will follow the constitution.”
“We will struggle for the supremacy of the parliament and make it supreme in all policymaking because it reflects the wishes of the people,” he said, vowing to pursue the mission of Bhutto, who was assassinated on December 27.
Gilani spent five years in jail under Musharraf’s rule on corruption charges stemming from his time as speaker -- charges his PPP colleagues said were politically motivated.
“Yousuf Raza Gilani is not afraid to lead and he knows the way,” Zardari said in a statement announcing the nomination on Saturday.
Speculation is rife that Gilani will only be a stop-gap premier until Zardari -- who is not an MP -- becomes eligible to stand for the post by contesting a by-election in May.
Gilani served as speaker during Bhutto’s second term in power from 1993 to 1996 and a minister during her first term from 1988 to 1990.
“We hope that the country will have a prime minister empowered to tackle the challenges, rather than a puppet on a string with real authority lying elsewhere in the party hierarchy,” the leading English daily Dawn said in an editorial.
Meanwhile the former ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, which backed Musharraf in the last parliament, on Sunday named Pervez Elahi, a former chief minister, to go up against Gilani in Monday’s vote.
Another nominee of Musharraf’s allies quit the race for the premiership on Saturday in a dramatic about-face, saying he would give “unconditional support to the PPP nominee.”
Musharraf is set to swear in the new premier on Tuesday.
The coalition government appears set for a confrontation with Musharraf after vowing to reinstate judges whom the president sacked during a state of emergency in November.
If restored, the judges could overturn Musharraf’s re-election as president in a parliamentary vote in October and effectively rule his grip on power illegal.
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