Here's hoping it truly is a step towards stability in Pakistan.

President Pervez Musharraf resigned his military post as Chief of Army Staff today, handing over the command stick to his successor in a ceremony at army headquarters and ending his eight years of military rule. He remains president and will be sworn in to a new five-year term in the capital on Thursday, but as a civilian president his power will be diminished.

Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, 55, the vice chief of army staff, becomes the Chief of Army Staff, replacing Mr. Musharraf. General Kayani — the former head of the InterServices Intelligence and a graduate of the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas — has played a prominent role in cooperating with the United States in the fight against terrorism in Pakistan and is expected to continue that policy.

Mr. Musharraf had come under growing pressure internationally and from his own disenchanted public to relinquish his military post, and his grip on political power will be significantly loosened without the uniform. While the military remains loyal to him, General Kayani is understood to want to remove the army from the forefront of politics and concentrate on military concerns.

This last point is particularly important. Since its birth, Pakistan has had a military intimately involved in politics. This has contributed to serious instability in its democratic processes. That we are seeing what appears to be a peaceful transition to civilian rule is a hopeful sign, and the selection of a general to lead the Army who seeks political disengagement could go a long way towards relieving concerns about future coups. If the January elections produce results which are accepted as legitimate by the Pakistani people, the upheaval of the last few weeks may have been, in some greater sense, "worth it" in terms of achieving stable civilian rule.

Posted by: Greg at 11:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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