New Delhi
12 March 2007
On a day when Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon left for
Islamabad to continue talks with his Pakistani counterpart, the Commonwealth said that
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf should step down as army chief.
"[We] will continue to press for a separation of the roles of President and Army Chief-of-
Staff in Pakistan", Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon said on the occasion
of Commonwealth Day (March 12).
The European Union (EU) too has asked President Musharraf to quit the post of chief of
armed forces. The demands by the Commonwealth and the EU come at a time when India
has stepped up engagement of Pakistan.
McKinnon said that the Commonwealth hopes to observe certain "important" elections in
member countries. The Commonwealth would also be dispatching advisers to strengthen
the institutions of democracy in some countries.
In the last Commonwealth meeting, member-states called for President Musharraf to quit
position as army chief if Pakistan is to remain a member of the Commonwealth. There
are 53 members of the Commonwealth today.
According to reports, Pakistan could face action by the Commonwealth if General
Musharraf remains the chief of the Pakistani army when the Commonwealth Heads of
Government (CHOGM) meet in Uganda in November.
A former prime minister of Pakistan, Mr Nawaz Sharif, has invited representatives from
the Commonwealth and the EU to take part in the All Parties Conference, which is
expected to be held in London later this month.
Mr Sharif has said the international observers were being invited to enable them a better
understanding of the aims and objectives of the All Parties Conference. Another former
premier, Ms Benazir Bhutto, will depute a delegation to attend the meet.
Last month, in an interview to this newspaper in New Delhi, European Commissioner for
External Relations and Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner said that
President Musharraf should take away his military uniform.
She also said that the issue of "free and fair" elections in Pakistan "will be very
important" for the EU. "We will certainly send an exploratory mission and then we will
decide whether we might observe the elections or not."
General Musharraf holds the two posts of President and army chief of Pakistan. In a
recent interview to Hum TV of Pakistan, he said that it allowed him to maintain unity of
command and to take national security decisions.
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