ISLAMABAD -- A decision by Pakistan's ruling party to push a bill through Parliament that would extend President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's tenure as head of the influential military establishment as well as give him wide-ranging powers marks a new setback for the nuclear-armed South Asian country's troubled democracy.
The parliamentary bill effectively reverses a promise made by Musharraf in 2003 that he would step down as head of the military by this December and continue to serve as a civilian president for only three more years.
If Musharraf had kept his promise, it would have marked an important change in the way that the military dominates Pakistan's key national affairs. For the first time since its 1999 coup the military would have "returned to its barracks," with no senior officers serving in key civilian roles.