|
Islamabad: A leader in Pakistan's new government on Sunday called for President Pervez Musharraf to quit, a day after the new prime minister vowed to move away from the US-backed leader's strong-arm tactics against Muslim militants.
"The sooner he resigns the better it is for himself and for the democratic process," said Ahsan Iqbal, a lawmaker from the Pakistan Muslim League-N party who is tipped to become education minister in the new Cabinet.
"On February 18 people voted against his policies and have voted for change," Iqbal said.
Authoritarian rule
Opposition parties swept last month's parliamentary elections amid resentment over Musharraf's increasingly authoritarian rule, Pakistan's mounting economic problems and a surge in militant attacks. The defeat has triggered calls for Musharraf to resign.
Parliament elected Yousuf Raza Gilani, a loyalist of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, as prime minister last week. Today, Musharraf is expected to swear in more than 20 members of the new Cabinet.
In his inaugural speech on Saturday, Gilani delivered a rebuke over Musharraf's military tactics in the lawless tribal belt along the Afghan border where Al Qaida and Taliban militants operate.
Priority
Gilani said combating terrorism was the government's No 1 priority, but he also said he was willing to talk to militants who are ready to lay down their arms and "join the path of peace". Expanding education and development in the impoverished region would be a "key pillar" of the government's strategy against the militants, he said.
Many Pakistanis believe Musharraf's reliance on large-scale army operations, as well as his tacit approval of US airstrikes inside Pakistan, have endangered civilians and produced a spike in domestic terrorism.
|
