Pakistan's 1st Step Toward Democracy

Pakistan's military ruler today announced nationwide local elections, considered a first step toward a return to democracy.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf's promise came two days before President Clinton was scheduled to visit Pakistan, where he is expected to press the military ruler for a timeframe for general elections.

Musharraf has rebuffed international pressure to return Pakistan to democracy quickly, saying the task ahead is onerous. But Thursday, he said the first round of local elections will be held between December and May 2001. A second round of local elections, at the district level will be held in July 2001, effectively putting municipal governments back in power.

The army chief toppled Pakistan's elected government in a bloodless coup last October, accusing officials of corruption and power mongering that crippled institutions and alienated smaller provinces.

Before holding the local elections, the army-led government says it wants to revise a 20-year-old electoral list and make new identity cards that can't easily be forged.

Musharraf previously referred to ousted Premier Nawaz Sharif's government as a "sham democracy" and vowed that the next time an elected government takes power in Pakistan it will be through a "real democracy."

Pakistan's 52-year history has been marked by periods of democratic rule interrupted by military takeovers. Musharraf's coup came after 10 years of democracy, which had followed 11 years of military rule in the nation of 140 million people.

Successive elected governments in Pakistan have been accused of unbridled corruption. When Musharraf took power, he vowed to clean up the corrupt political system, recover stolen wealth and revive a moribund economy.

The army's anti-corruption bureau, established by Musharraf, said it has recovered $1 billion in unpaid bank loans and money stolen by corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.

The anti-corruption bureau was given sweeping powers to arrest, detain and charge those suspected of corruption.

Sharif is in jail in southern Karachi on charges of hijacking. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.

The charges stem from Oct. 12, when Sharif who had fired Musharraf as army chief of staff allegedly ordered officials at the Karachi airport to close the facility and block runways in an effort to prevent a plane carrying the general and 197 others aboard from landing.

The same day the military revolted and overthrew the democratic government. Sharif has pleaded innocent.