Now a Civilian Leader, Musharraf Vows to Lift Emergency Rule

MARGARET WARNER:

President Pervez Musharraf, regarded as a key U.S. ally in the war against terrorism, entered a new phase in his power today, being sworn in as a civilian president without his army chief of staff's hat, and pledging to end emergency rule on December 16th.

For what these changes mean, we turn to Stephen Cohen, who served on the State Department's policy planning staff in the 1980s. A senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, he's written extensively on Pakistan.

And Shuja Nawaz, a former Pakistani journalist and long-time international civil servant at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, he's author of a forthcoming book about the Pakistani military.

And welcome, gentlemen, to both of you.

Stephen Cohen, these changes in the last 24 hours, being sworn in as a civilian without his army uniform, declaring a date certain to end emergency rule, how big a change does this represent for Musharraf and for his country?

STEPHEN COHEN, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution:

Well, for Musharraf, it represents a critical turning point in that he's finally abandoned the army and given up his army uniform, which is where most of his power came from. Now I think the test is whether he can maintain influence in Pakistan simply by being the president.

The army will have to carry out any commands or orders he makes, especially since the civil service in Pakistan is notoriously weak. So I think we'll see him as a politician now, not simply as a soldier.

In fact, there may well be changes on the military side, because with the new army chief, you may get a different approach to the war on terrorism from the Pakistan army's point of view.