Pakistan’s Parliment Could Spark Clash
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan swore in its newly elected parliament yesterday, setting the stage for a political clash with the government of President Musharraf a month after voters handed a victory to the country’s major opposition parties.
The long-awaited first session of the 342-member National Assembly convened at Pakistan’s gleaming white parliament house amid tight security, two days after a deadly bomb attack on a popular restaurant in the center of the capital.
Sharpshooters with rifles at the ready stood atop almost every corner of the massive modern government building as a parade of black and silver bulletproof sport-utility vehicles deposited parliament members and Pakistani luminaries at the crowded entrance. One of the first to arrive was former prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, leader of Musharraf’s Pakistan Muslim League faction and a strong supporter of the president. Mr. Hussain, who lost his parliamentary bid last month, said the convocation of the new parliament yesterday signals fresh hope for his party and Pakistan: “The future is very bright. It is the first day, and we pray that everything will be all right.”
Mr. Musharraf’s political prospects appeared far from assured, however, as members of a parliament generally hostile to his government streamed into the building for the swearing-in ceremony. The heads of the two leading parties voted into power February 18 have vowed to restore the country’s beleaguered judiciary within 30 days of the formation of the new government — a move that is seen here as a direct challenge to the president’s authority.
The reinstatement of judges deposed under Mr. Musharraf’s rule could trigger a legal case against the president leading to his ouster, a development many members of parliament said Monday that they would welcome.
“Musharraf has to go. He has no future in this country, at least,” a newly elected legislator, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, said. “Maybe he has a future in the U.S.”
Mr. Musharraf, a top ally of America in the war against Al Qaeda, has long enjoyed Bush administration backing, but his support among his own people has waned in recent years.
