Musharraf commits to democracy

Musharraf during Wednesday's ceremony

By CNN's Andrew Demaria

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf has said he is committed to democracy after declaring himself president Wednesday.

Although the new Pakistani president is drawing sharp criticism from the U.S. following the move, India says it will roll out the red carpet when Musharraf arrives there in July for a summit.

Although the new Pakistani president is drawing sharp criticism from the U.S. following the move, India says it will roll out the red carpet when Musharraf arrives there in July for a summit.

Musharraf earlier dismissed former president Rafiq Tarar as the nation's ceremonial head of state and dissolved the national and provisional assemblies, paving the way for his swearing in.

Despite the power move, no major changes in the country's political agenda are expected, with Musharraf saying he will keep his promise and return Pakistan to democracy by October 2002.

QUOTE "I hold national interest supreme. I personally, in all sincerity, in all honesty, think that I have a role to play in this nation. I sincerely think that I have a job to do here." - Gen. Pervez Musharraf

"The supreme court order, supreme court judgment, of holding elections in October 2002 is very clear," he said. "We will abide by that."

The United States condemned Musharraf's actions, describing them as a turn away from democracy.

"We're very disappointed that Pakistan has taken another turn away from democracy rather than as we had hoped a step towards democracy," Richard Boucher, U.S. State Department spokesman, said.

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"General Musharraf's actions to dissolve the elected assemblies and to appoint himself president severely undermine Pakistan's constitutional order. They cast Pakistan as a country ruled by decree rather than by democratic process."

Washington says U.S. sanctions imposed after Musharraf took power in 1999 will remain in place until Pakistan moves toward democracy.

Elections promised

Musharraf has held the position of Chief Executive since ousting Prime Minister Nawar Sharif in a bloodless military coup in October 1999.

Democracy has been suspended in Pakistan since Musharraf seized power.

Since then, however, Musharraf has repeatedly talked about re-introducing democracy in Pakistan and he has promised to hold elections in 2002.

There has been no indication as to how he intends to bring back the popular vote, and Musharraf has not made it clear what role he would give himself in a democratic Pakistan.

Analysts are asking what Musharraf intends to do between now and next year in terms of constitutional amendments.

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"What we really have to see is between now and the timetable given by the supreme court of Pakistan for the transfer of power to elected house which is October of next year," Professor Samina Ahmed, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, said.

Constitutional amendments would change the government structure in Pakistan from a federal parliamentary democracy to a presidential system.

"Then I think you would have seen a major change in the present style of governance in Pakistan," she said.

India signals recognition

Indians were still digesting the news Thursday, as the government signaled its recognition of developments in Islamabad.

A spokesman for the external affairs ministry has said that the Gen. Musharraf would be welcomed as the president of Pakistan when he arrives in India on July 14.

Musharraf will meet with India's Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in New Delhi on July 14-16 as president, chief executive and chief of army.

And sources say that Indian officials breathed a sigh of relief after Musharraf took on the mantle of presidency, as it sorted out a protocol dilemna. India will now extend all the courtesies attributed to a head of state when Musharraf visits.

Little impact

Indian border guards in Kashmir. The disputed region will be prominent in the July talks

Many believe this new title will have little impact on the substance of the talks.

The main topic will be the disputed region of Kashmir and although Musharraf comes with his position strengthened, the question of Kashmir is expected to remain as intractable as it was before.

"It would have made a difference if he had been elected president. It might have even made a difference if he had given up his title of chief of army staff," Ahmed told CNN.

"Since he's done neither, it is really continuity. It doesn't change the dynamics of the relationship between the two countries or Musharraf's power base which is the Pakistani military."

Vajpayee invited Musharraf last month to discuss disputes between the two nuclear rivals and break a two-year deadlock in the peace process.

A Foreign Ministry statement said that Musharraf would also go to the Taj Mahal city of Agra near the capital New Delhi and the northern Indian city of Ajmer, the site of a famous Muslim shrine.

Vajpayee has acknowledged there had been little progress in the past toward resolving the Kashmir row, over which Indian and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.