President to step down as COAS on 29th
Staff Report/Agencies

ISLAMABAD—President General Pervez Musharraf will take oath of office as a civilian President, for a term of five years, on November 29, President’s Spokesman General (R) Rashid Qureshi said Monday. The President will also hand over the command of the country’s armed forces as the Chief of Army Staff to Vice Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani. General Kiyani will assume the charge as the new Chief of Army Staff the same day.
The President will be visiting different military headquarters during the next two days for farewell calls. General Pervez Musharraf was appointed as the Chief of Army Staff on October 7, 1998. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf will start his farewell meeting as Chief of Army Staff from today (Tuesday). He will meet with all Corps Commander and Head of armed forces to express his thanks over their cooperation with him as Chief of Army Staff during 1998 to 2007.
A farewell party will also be organized in the honour of President. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, military sources told Online on Monday. The President will address on the occasion, besides highlighting his Performance and services during tenure as Chief of Army Staff. Sources added that the President would participate in the ceremony of three armed forces including Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy within next two days. It is expected that the President can make announcement to doff his military uniform on Wednesday. The unofficial last Corps Commander meeting under the Chairmanship of Chief of Army Staff is also expected on Wednesday, sources concluded.
The formal ceremony to change command of Pakistan army will be held with in two days at Army General Headquarters Rawalpindi. On Monday, a high level meeting was held in Federal defence ministry, attended by senior army officers to finalize the issues related to changing command of Pakistan army and others, military sources told Online. Chief of Army Staff Gen. Pervez Musharraf will handover the command of Pakistan army to nominated Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani in a special ceremony, sources added.
Gen. Pervez Musharraf will decorate Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani with badge of Chief of Army Staff, besides handing over flag regarding change of Pak army command. Soon after the ceremony, the defence ministry will release the notification about appointment of new Chief of army Staff and retirement of Gen. Pervez Musharraf as Chief of Army Staff, sources maintained.
The senior leadership of Pakistan army and Head Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force will attend the ceremony. The ceremony will be held in two days because President Gen. Pervez Musharraf takes oath as civilian Head of State on Thursday while Awan-e-Saddar and Chief Justice of Pakistan are finalizing the arrangements with Cabinet division in this respect, sources concluded.
Gen. Pervez Musharraf will step down as head of Pakistan’s military and be sworn in as a civilian president on Thursday, an army spokesman said.
“He is going to take oath as has been announced by government on the 29th, most probably, so he is going to take off his uniform a day before that,” spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said Monday. Civilian officials have repeatedly said that Musahrraf would step down imminently as army chief, a key demand of domestic opponents threatening to boycott January’s parliamentary elections. But Arshad’s statement was the first from the military naming a date for him to restore direct civilian rule.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, fresh from a triumphant return from exile, registered Monday as a candidate in the parliamentary elections. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, fresh from a triumphant return from exile, registered Monday as a candidate for Pakistan’s crucial parliamentary elections.
However, he maintained a threat to boycott the January vote and said that, even if he did take part, he would not lead any government under Pakistan’s embattled military president. Sharif signed his nomination papers at a court in the eastern city of Lahore. Supporters packed into the courtroom chanting “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif!” His surprise return to Pakistan from exile Sunday poses a major threat to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the man who ousted him in a 1999 coup and became a key U.S. ally against international terrorism.
Musharraf is expected to step down as chief of Pakistan’s powerful army this week and continue as a civilian — a key demand of his domestic and international critics. But Sharif insisted Musharraf would have to reinstate Supreme Court judges purged under the emergency and obtain their approval before he would be “acceptable” to his party. He also accused authorities of rigging the elections to benefit the ruling party.