Cautious welcome for Musharraf vote pledge

Musharraf's announcement came during Pakistan's Independence Day celebrations

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf's pledge to hold national elections next year has received a cautious welcome in the West and deep skepticism in Pakistan.

General Musharraf announced on Pakistan's 54th anniversary of Independence Day Tuesday that his country would begin its return to democracy on October 1 next year.

Elections would be held on that date at provincial and federal levels, he said, without indicating that he intended to give up his leadership position.

The United States and Britain say that while they welcome the move, they are awaiting more details.

But Pakistani critics of the military regime say they're suspicious about the move.

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Musharraf declared himself president in June after deposing elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999.

More details wanted

The U.S. welcomed Musharraf's democracy pledge, but said it was waiting to hear more details over the role of parties and Musharraf himself, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said.

"President Musharraf's speech did not provide more details... including whether provincial and parliamentary elections would be party-based, which had not been permitted during the recent local elections, and what would be the role of the president and the National Security Council," he said.

Reeker said some U.S. sanctions against Pakistan, which were imposed following the 1999 coup, would remain until the U.S. president rules that a democratically elected government has taken office.

The sanctions are particularly damaging to Pakistan because it was already dealing with earlier sanctions imposed following underground nuclear tests in 1998.

Britain also welcomed Musharraf's promise of national elections, saying it offered his country a clear route back to democratic rule.

"This has provided the people of Pakistan and the international community with a clear timetable for the transition to democracy in Pakistan by October 12, 2002," Foreign Office minister Ben Bradshaw said in a statement.

He added that Britain, Pakistan's former colonial ruler, wanted to hear further details, including "clarity on constitutional aspects, of this road map to democracy."

Pakistan suspicious

In Pakistan itself newspapers, politicians and political analysts all questioned whether Musharraf's announcement of next year's voting was merely designed to meet the deadline set by the Supreme Court.

The Court, which last year ruled Musharraf was justified in seizing power, has ordered a return to full democracy by October 2002.

"The announcement is in a positive direction," former law minister Iqbal Haider told Reuters. "But there are many questions still left."

"How would he retain power after the transfer of power takes place to an elected government?" asked Haider, a prominent member of Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party that has been a relentless critic of the military ruler.

Reuters contributed to this report.