New Delhi, July 12
President Pervez Musharraf tonight said he would give all powers to the Prime Minister to run the country, but armed himself with powers to sack an ‘errant’ Prime Minister through a super-powerful National Security Council (NSC).

During his yet another televised address to the nation, General Musharraf said the NSC would be an 11-member body which would make it difficult for a ‘whimsical’ President to sack a Prime Minister without any valid reason. 

But what he did not say was that it was up to the President to pack the proposed NSC with his own men so that he remains all-powerful. Though General Musharraf said the mandate of the proposed NSC would be “non-obtrusive”, it is clear that the National Security Council would be a sort of National Political Council with powers to dismiss even the National Assembly and provincial governments.

General Musharraf said a “rubber stamp” President was not in the interest of the country and, therefore, he was restoring Article 58 (2) (b) of the Constitution which empowers the President to sack the Prime Minister.

Henceforth, the President would have the powers to appoint as well as sack the Prime Minister, though General Musharraf added that the Prime Minister would have to win a vote of confidence from the National Assembly after his appointment. It is to be noted that there will be no direct election of the Prime Minister and it would be the prerogative of the President to appoint PM.

General Musharraf said, “It is said the balance of power has tilted in favour of President. Power should be with the PM. There should be no sharing of that power. But the PM should be accountable and his powers should be under check. Having no check is dangerous. A rubber stamp President is dangerous to the nation. There is only one way — to have a constitutional check. The NSC will decide whether the PM is governing properly or not.”

General Musharraf also made it clear that he had no intentions of restoring democracy. This is what he said, “Pakistan has never had real democracy. Had it been so, I would not have been here. The democracy is over as soon as elections are over. Not a single government completed its tenure.”

He recounted in detail how in the past 11 years on four occasions the Army Chief’s mediation was solicited to resolve the PM-President tiff. Alluding to the previous government’s scrapping of Article 58 (2) (b), General Musharraf asked whether the country wanted unbridled powers for the Prime Minister.

“Do we want such a democracy? This can never happen. We will never allow it to happen. We will not let our three-year labour go waste,” he made it clear.

“Was Article 58 (2) (b) successful? No. It failed. In the past 11 years there were always circumstances ripe for martial law. At least four times. The Army chief was dragged because the system was not functioning. In last 11 years, what did the lame duck democracy give to the nation? Poor governance and institutional collapse.” Making a rhetorical statement, General Musharraf said, “I am not power hungry. I want to give power, not take it. I never tell lies or indulge in frauds.”

Expectedly, he sought to dispel the notion that Americans — troops as well as investigators — were swamping his country. He asserted that there were “only a dozen American troops” whose job is to provide communication and intelligence.

Pakistan-watchers here take this with not just a pinch of salt but with loads of it. It is a fact that more than 5,000 American troops are currently in Pakistan and of late, the FBI has sent a large number of its investigators there, particularly in the wake of the recently started military operations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). With regards to FATA, he mentioned that Pakistani troops had entered those tribal regions where nobody has entered for the past 100 years. “Our troops are making roads, hospitals and dispensaries there, as a result of which the (tribal) area is opening up.”