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Musharraf to 'hand over power' imminently
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's military ruler, President Pervez Musharraf, says he will hand over power to a civilian prime minister "in the next one or two days." Musharraf, who came to power in a coup in 1999, said on Pakistani television late Wednesday: "Within the next on or two days I will be fulfilling my promise and hand over the responsibilities of government to the new prime minister. "I have placed before you honestly the performance of my government. ... I assure you that whatever I have done it was for the betterment of Pakistan and its people." Musharraf's speech came on the eve of a vote for prime minister in the reconvened National Assembly, which opened on Saturday for the first time since the October 1999 coup. The president promised to hand over the reigns of government to the new prime minister and not interfere -- despite sweeping recent changes in Pakistani law that gave Musharraf broad powers, including the ability to dissolve the National Assembly. In his speech, Musharraf delivered a glowing report on his accomplishments during three years at the helm of the government. He made similar speeches in the days before the October 10 parliamentary elections and a national referendum in April. "I am returning back the national trust to the representatives of the nation," he said. "Not only am I returning the trust, I am returning it in a better shape and state." Musharraf also said he had cleansed the government of corruption. "There's no corruption to be spoken of from the top levels of government to the lowest levels," he said. Mir Zaferullah Jamali, a former chief minister of Baluchistan province and a pro-government party member, is expected to win the assembly vote Thursday morning, just as pro-government candidates won the speaker of the house and deputy speaker of the house votes on Tuesday. The assembly had been scheduled to meet for the first time since the election on November 8, but Musharraf delayed the meeting for a week, ostensibly to garner support for his Pakistan Muslim League. Musharraf's party only took 118 of the assembly's 342 seats in the October election, short of the 172 needed for a majority. But the party got a boost late last week when 10 members of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party bolted and joined the Muslim League. Opposition parties fear that Jamali, who dissolved Baluchistan's assembly during one of his two stints as provincial chief minister, is unlikely to stand up to any military intervention. -- CNN Islamabad Bureau Chief Ash-har Quraishi contributed to this report.
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