Musharraf’s election plans draw skepticism

Senate Democrats reacted skeptically to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s announcement that he will hold elections in February, despite praise for the step from the White House.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday suggested ties could be placed on future aid to Pakistan as appropriators meet to iron out differences regarding the State Department’s spending bill.

{mosads}"We’ve given them, Pakistan, American taxpayer dollars to the tune of about $10 billion,” Reid told reporters. “Most of that has gone to heavy equipment, that hasn’t gone into police, that hasn’t gone into a lot of places where many of us think it should have gone.”

Reid said appropriators would “take a look at this and see if there are other strings that can be attached.”

In a related action, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) offered a resolution condemning the state of emergency and calling on Musharraf to reinstate his country’s constitution.

On the House side, one top appropriator also said future aid to Pakistan would be scrutinized. “I will continue monitoring President Musharraf’s actions carefully as Congress approaches critical funding decisions in the coming weeks about our foreign assistance to Pakistan,” said Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), whose Appropriations subcommittee holds the purse strings to the Pakistani aid.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman and presidential candidate Joseph Biden (D-Del.) said that he sees a way out of the political crisis in Pakistan based on his conversations this week with Musharraf and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

“He and Benazir Bhutto have to negotiate constitutional changes relating to the role of the president and the prime minister. I think that all is doable,” Biden said in a call with reporters on Thursday.

At the same time, Biden warned that the threat of a failed state in Pakistan is “very real.”

He stressed that the United States should be “much more involved behind the scenes” in Pakistan and criticized President Bush for waiting five days to talk to Musharraf after he declared emergency rule, suspended the constitution and granted authorities sweeping powers to quash political dissent.

The White House applauded Musharraf’s decision to proceed with elections. "We think it is a good thing that President Musharraf has clarified the election date for the Pakistani people," press secretary Dana Perino said, according to The Associated Press.

Musharraf announced on Thursday that he would hold parliamentary elections on Feb. 15, one month later than expected, but Bhutto, who leads an opposition party, denounced the move as insufficient and called on Musharraf to step down as army chief within a week.

Biden made it clear that if elections are not held on schedule and Musharraf does not take off his uniform, big-ticket defense items such as the F-16 fighter and the P-3 maritime surveillance aircraft are on the table.

“It is clear to me from our conversation that President Musharraf understands the consequences for his country and for relations with the United States if he does not return Pakistan to the path of democracy,” Biden said.

A suspension of aircraft sales “would have an impact on the military, and he [Musharraf] relies on the military,” Biden said. “These weapons systems are designed to maintain the balance of power with India. I do believe there is a means by which this immediate crisis can be resolved.”

In order to suspend the sales of the two weapons systems, Congress would likely have to pass a law, because those two aircraft already received licenses for the international sale.

With calls to cut off security aid to Pakistan intensifying on Capitol Hill, Biden said he would introduce a punitive measure on the Senate floor but indicated that before that happens there is still a “legitimate constitutional deal to cut” between Musharraf and Bhutto and that the Bush administration can still move in the right direction.

Biden said the U.S. must take a broader approach to Pakistan, centered on the well-being of its people rather than just the stability of its leadership. Under a proposal he presented in New Hampshire at Saint Anselm College, he said he would start by tripling non-military aid to the country, to $1.5 billion annually. "Instead of funding military hardware, it would build schools, clinics and roads," Biden said.

If Musharraf engages in a permanent crackdown or a permanent dictatorship, “that is not a recipe for stability,” Biden said. Moreover, the senator said, Musharraf would no longer use his resources to help the United States along the border with Afghanistan.

“The bulk of his resources will be used [in] maintaining the dictatorship,” he said. A dictatorship scenario will either force moderate Pakistanis out of the country or prompt them to “go underground” and join extremist Islamic groups.

Manu Raju contributed to this report.