Bush asks Musharraf to lift emergency, shed uniform

Nudging President Pervez Musharraf once again, US President George W Bush has said the sooner Pakistan gets off the emergency decree, it will return to the road to democracy and that the beleaguered military ruler must shed his uniform.


As the US Administration announced that it is sending Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to Pakistan later this week, Bush said he believes that Musharraf "understands the importance of democracy".


"... President Musharraf has got Pakistan on the road to democracy -- or did. And when I talked to him, I said, 'You got to get Pakistan back on the road to democracy as quickly as possible'," Bush said in an interview to the Business Network of Fox News.


"And that means elections, and that means that, in my judgment, the road to democracy means you can't be the head of the military and the president at the same time".
Noting that "he's (Musharraf) agreed to hold elections in January, and he's agreed to take his uniform off," the US President said "our judgment is that the sooner he can suspend his emergency decree, the faster Pakistan gets back on the road to democracy."


"It's an ever-changing situation. And if you follow the news, like I know you do, it's changing all the time. There's a lot of events taking place.


"And our purpose, of course, is to promote a democracy in Pakistan, and at the same time as a valuable ally in fighting the extremists, who have tried to kill President Musharraf three or four times. He understands the stakes of the war, and I do believe he understands the importance of democracy," Bush said.



Courtesy:thehindu.com

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