Pakistan Leader Acts to Curb Power of Parties

Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, said yesterday he had won a 'heavy mandate' from the people in his much-criticised referendum and would now bring in reforms to curb the power of future elected politicians.

Musharraf made it clear he intends to stay on as president for at least another five years after claiming last Tuesday's poll gave him 98 per cent support to keep the role. Human rights activists say the poll was marred by massive vote-rigging, with ballot boxes stuffed with 'yes' votes and government employees ordered to turn out to vote.

The general said he would make 'essential' changes to the constitution to limit the power of the new Prime Minister before the promised elections in October. 'I have been placed in this position by destiny,' Musharraf said. 'I will take these decisions.'

For the first time since the referendum campaign began a month ago, the general wore his army uniform in public.

'In October when there is going to be a Prime Minister, he will have the power,' Musharraf said. 'He will run Pakistan and I am going to relax and play tennis and golf. But I will not allow him to run it badly.'

Although the turnout at most polling stations appeared thin on the day of the vote, the government at first claimed a 70 per cent turn-out. This was later revised to 56 per cent, still larger than at any general election in the past decade.

It is clear that the referendum has damaged the credibility of a leader who was widely welcomed in Pakistan when he took over in a coup in October 1999 after a decade of corruption and misrule. Musharraf yesterday promised an investigation into the accusations of vote manipulation, but insisted: 'The people want me. I know the verdict of the people.'

It appears the general was encouraged by his senior advisers to hold a referendum in his constant search for legitimacy. The alternative would have been to wait until the October general elections and hope that a majority in parliament would vote to keep him as president.

The general criticised the two largest political parties, the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League, for opposing his referendum. He said they had run a campaign relying on large funds from abroad and centred on 'disinformation and destabilisation'. Political parties are still banned from holding public rallies.

'We thought that something has to be done to prevent it reverting back to the pre-1999 era of destabilised democracy,' he said. 'The analysis showed the only way this can be changed or turned around is through my coming into the fray. We hope a new political era will be ushered in in October and beyond.'

A key part of that new political era will be the National Security Council, a new body dominated by the military that will act as a 'check and balance' to the cabinet.

As Musharraf held his referendum, operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants have intensified in the tribal areas of north-western Pakistan. Reports suggest that United States forces have been involved in the raids, including one at Miram Shah in which soldiers searched a religious school owned by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a Taliban Minister and now one of the movement's most wanted men.

The operations are immensely sensitive for Pakistan. Although the regime offered logistical support to the US military after 11 September, it refused to allow troops to launch combat missions from Pakistan or to search in Pakistani territory.

Musharraf dismissed suggestions that officers within the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence Agency had opposed his policy shifts since the World Trade Centre attacks.

Many believe a significant group of ISI officers opposed his decision to drop support for the Taliban and to curb links with Islamic militants inside Pakistan.