NEW DELHI — Pakistan's military dictator pledged Thursday that he will hand over power to democratically elected leaders within three years.
Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who overthrew the civilian government seven months ago, told a nationally televised news conference that he will abide by a recent court decision limiting his time in office.
"Yes, obviously. This is a Supreme Court judgment which has to be accepted," the general said.
It was the first time that Musharraf gave a timetable for returning Pakistan to civilian rule. The regime has been shunned around the world and is under mounting pressure at home, where Musharraf is attempting to overhaul key institutions.
Musharraf presides over an extraordinarily volatile country of 140 million people who have seen military rulers come and go in the five decades since independence from Britain. The general heads the only military-run government that is known to possess nuclear weapons, and Pakistan is increasingly riven by the activities of terrorists and extremist Islamic groups. The country ranks among the poorest and depends on regular injections of foreign money to stay afloat.
Musharraf, the chief of the Pakistani army, seized power Oct. 12 when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif tried to fire him. Many Pakistanis welcomed the coup and the ouster of Sharif, who was widely viewed as corrupt and tyrannical.
Several Pakistanis filed legal challenges to the coup, and Musharraf, in one of his more highhanded moments, forced all members of the Supreme Court to swear loyalty to him. Several judges resigned, and this month a newly constituted court validated the general's seizure of power on the grounds of "necessity."
But the judges did not let things go at that. They said military coups could harm Pakistan, and they told Musharraf that he had to return to the barracks within three years.
"Prolonged interference of the military in politics is not good," the court said. "It will politicize the army, and democracy should be restored within the shortest possible time."
Until Thursday, Musharraf had resisted setting a date for a return to democratic rule. In March, he announced a round of local elections beginning in July, but that failed to satisfy his critics. When President Clinton visited the region in March, he met briefly with Musharraf but without ceremony or enthusiasm.
