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Sharif, Zardari skip Gillani swearing-in

Nirupama Subramanian

Senior U.S. officials hold discussions with Musharraf, ruling party leaders

— PHOTO: AFP

OATH OF OFFICE: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf (left) gestures as he arrives for the swearing-in of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, at the Presidential Palace in Islamabad on Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD: Two senior U.S. State Department officials are in the Pakistani capital for talks with the country’s new rulers, as Washington scrambles to keep pace with the rapid transfer of power from its ally-in-chief , retired General Pervez Musharraf to a democratically-elected coalition of political parties with varied agendas.

Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher met Pakistan People’s Party leader Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Nawaz Sharif. They also met Gen.Musharraf.

General Musharraf’s already weakened position was dealt one more blow on Monday when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani ordered the release of the judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary, detained in undeclared house arrest after their dismissal when the General imposed emergency rule last November 3.

The National Assembly resounded with cries of “Go Musharraf, Go” as Mr. Gillani read out that order on the floor of the House. The legal community has declared that it will give the new Parliament 30 days to reinstate the pre-November 3 judges.

In an agreement known as the Murree Declaration, the main coalition partners, Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (N), had pledged to restore the judiciary to its November 2 status within 30 days of taking office. If that happens, analysts predict the Supreme Court may reopen the legal challenges to General Musharraf’s legitimacy.

Grim ceremony

Mr. Gillani, who made the challenge to General Musharraf starker by expressing his full support for the Murree Declaration, took the oath of office from him on Tuesday morning in a grim swearing-in ceremony. The PML(N) headed by Nawaz Sharif boycotted the ceremony, and only a handful of PPP members were present. PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari did not attend, and the event was marked by a conspicuous absence of any exchange of pleasantries between General Musharraf and Mr. Gillani.

Later, speaking to state media, Mr. Gillani ambiguously said without naming General Musharraf that the President was as much part of Parliament as the National Assembly and the Senate, and he would work to strengthen Parliament. For his part, General Musharraf offered his full support to the incoming government.

But PML(N) leader Nawaz Sharif told journalists after his meeting with the U.S. officials that he had told them “very frankly’ that General Musharraf no longer enjoyed the support of the people of Pakistan, and that “we don’t recognise him as the President of this country”.

Mr. Sharif said Mr. Negroponte and Mr. Boucher had discussed regional issues with him, including the war on terror, but he had told them that the situation had completely changed in Pakistan. “I told them it is no longer a one-man show. The people have rejected Musharraf’s policies, and now Parliament will decide what should be the policy,” he said.

A PPP press release said Mr. Zardari and his son, the PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, met the U.S. officials. All through the eventful day, lawyers, politicians and activists continued to throng the home of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary after his release on Monday night.

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