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Musharraf keeps his uniform

Bill passed in Pak parliament

REUTERS, Islamabad
Pakistan's lower house of parliament passed a bill yesterday to allow President Pervez Musharraf to stay on as army chief despite his pledge to give up the job by the end of the year.
The bill calls for the president to be allowed to hold two offices to able to continue the fight against terrorism and safeguard Pakistan's territorial integrity.
It was passed in the National Assembly amid noisy protests from
opposition deputies who had strongly objected and insist Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup five years ago, should either resign as president or as army chief.
After the approval of the 342-member National Assembly, the bill will be passed to the Senate, or upper house of parliament, where the government also has a majority, before being sent to Musharraf to be signed into law.
The passage of the bill in the lower house by voice vote was a
foregone conclusion given the majority held by pro-military parties.
Constitutional experts have said the bill would not be binding on Musharraf but would give him the scope to break his pledge to give up one of the positions by the end of year.
Musharraf says he has not made a final decision but has dropped strong hints in recent weeks that he would renege on his promise.
He has said shedding his uniform
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could undermine his authority in pressing home the war against terror in Pakistan and in pushing forward a nascent peace process with rival India.
Military spokesman Major General-Shaukat Sultan told Reuters before the passage of the bill that Musharraf had yet to decide whether he would remain in uniform, but circumstances had changed since he announced his plan to quit the army.
"President Musharraf has given his position many times in the media and he says 'let the time and I will decide'," he said Thursday.
"When he said in the past -- it was a year back -- things have changed a lot since then. The environments have changed, so hence he needs to review his decision this way or that way, whatever it is."
Under a deal last year with the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Islamic opposition alliance, Musharraf pledged to stand down as army chief in return for their support for controversial constitutional changes that gave him sweeping powers to sack parliament and dismiss the government.