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CNN Live At Daybreak

Pakistan President Musharraf Trying to Extend Term in Office

Aired April 30, 2002 - 06:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to turn our attention now to Pakistan, where President Pervez Musharraf is trying to extend his term in office. CNN's senior Asia correspondent, Mike Chinoy, is covering today's referendum. He joins us live from Islamabad -- Mike.

MIKE CHINOY, CNN SENIOR ASIA CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol. Well, Pervez Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999. He has never faced the voters of Pakistan. Now today, he is asking the people of Pakistan to go to the polls, and in a referendum, to give him five more years as president to hold on to power.

The president says that he needs this public mandate from the population in order to carry on his policies of economic reform and to continue his cooperation with the United States on the war against terrorism.

But the referendum has not been without controversy. Virtually all of Pakistan's main political parties and many religious and civic organizations are boycotting the vote. They claim that it's undemocratic. And there is no question that the military regime here has mobilized its vast resources to ensure as big a turnout as possible, with local officials laying (ph) on transport to bring people to the polling stations, with many of the regulations governing voting procedures relaxed to make it easier for more people to get to the polls.

Nonetheless, it looks like the president will get a significant enough turnout to claim victory. The criticism is that he is in danger of losing his reputation as an upright military man, who stood apart from the messiness and sordidness of Pakistani politics, by now getting involved in this political campaign, and that will be followed later in the year by elections for parliament.

And so the fear is that he, in view of many critics here, is becoming just another politician rather than the upstanding figure that many Pakistanis have seen him as so far -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And, Mike, along those line, I understand on the ballot, it's just yes and no. There are no opponents' names, right?

CHINOY: That's correct. There are no opponents. No, this is not an election. This is an appeal by President Musharraf to the people to endorse what he wants, and the opposition has stayed away in droves. We have gotten reports from some of Pakistan's major city, Lahore and Karachi, of very low turnout.

Nonetheless, when I spoke with the president's spokesman earlier in the day, he was saying that the turnout was looking good, and no doubt the government will claim a victory. The president will claim this mandate to stay on in power -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thank you very much -- Mike Chinoy reporting live for us from Islamabad this morning.

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