US applauds election plan in Pakistan

by DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press - Nov 8, 2007

The Bush White House on Thursday applauded Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's decision to proceed with elections in Pakistan, which has been convulsing from his imposition of emergency rule last week.

"We think it is a good thing that President Musharraf has clarified the election date for the Pakistani people," press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement given to reporters who were accompanying the president on a trip to Texas later Thursday.

The administration issued the statement welcoming the election the day after President Bush exhorted the embattled Musharraf in a telephone call to hold elections and to step down as head of the military in the Southwest Asian nation that has been riddled by unrest for the past several days.

"You can't be the president and the head of the military at the same time," Bush said Wednesday, telling reporters about the 20-minute telephone call he had with Musharraf. Said the president: "I had a very frank discussion with him."

The conversation was the first communication the U.S. president had with Musharraf since the Pakistani declared emergency rule last Saturday and granted sweeping powers to authorities to crush political dissent.

In Islamabad Thursday, Musharraf announced after a meeting of his National Security Council that elections would be held in February, a month later than had been planned previously. The announcement, nevertheless, was seen as a signal that the state of emergency there would not last long and that security restrictions would likely have to be eased to allow campaigning.

Sen. Joseph R. Biden, D-Del., who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, renewed his criticism of the Bush administration's way of dealing with Musharraf in a telephone news conference Thursday.

"I wonder why the president wasn't on the phone the first day with him," Biden said, "Why it took five days to talk to him."

Biden, after talking to Musharraf by telephone on Tuesday, said he had urged him to "take off his uniform" and "restore the rule of law."

At his news conference Thursday, Biden said, "We have to move from a Musharraf to a Pakistan policy... We have to be more directly involved behind the scenes."

The senator did not rule out Musharraf being "a player" in a more democratic government. But Biden said "if he engages in a permanent suspension of the Constitution that is not a recipe for democracy."

Bush talked about his message to Musharraf as he joined visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy for a tour of George Washington's home in Mount Vernon, Va., Wednesday.

"My message was very plain, very easy to understand, and that is, the United States wants you to have the elections as scheduled and take your uniform off," he said.

For several days, the administration had faced questions about why Bush was taking a softer line on Pakistan than he did, for instance, against Myanmar where military rulers cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in September.

Bush defended his response to both governments.

"Look, our objective is the same in Burma as it is in Pakistan, and that is to promote democracy," Bush said. "There is a difference, however. Pakistan has been on the path to democracy. Burma hadn't been on the path to democracy. And it requires different tactics to achieve the common objective."