Deep analysis of President Musharraf and MMA LFO agreement. 
Musharraf and the MMA
**The package of amendments to Pakistan’s constitution that have just been approved by parliament legitimise all the actions and deeds of General Pervez Musharraf since he seized power in a military coup four years ago.
It also appears to make him one of the most powerful presidents in the history of Pakistan, a country that, in formal terms, has a parliamentary form of government. **
As a military ruler, General Musharraf had already declared himself as president in 2001.
But since then he has remained conscious of the fact that, without the necessary endorsement by parliament, all his decisions would remain questionable.
**He has played his cards well. **
In the end, the groups that have always pretended to be his biggest critics - the Islamic parties - have bailed him out by providing the constitutional legitimacy that he so badly needed.
- **No prior consultation **
From President Musharraf’s point of view the most crucial clause that has been added to the Constitution is Article 270-AA, which validates all his actions since his 1999 coup.
It reads: **“The Proclamation of Emergency of October 14, 1999, all President’s Orders, Ordinances, Chief Executive’s Orders… shall not be called in question in any court or forum on any ground whatsoever”. **
The alliance of hardline Islamic parties, the MMA, had given the impression that their agreement with the government would curtail some of the powers General Musharraf had assumed for himself.
However, he will continue to remain a very strong head of the state.
**General Musharraf will be president until 2008. He will also stay on as head of the army for at least one year.
He will have the authority to dismiss Pakistan’s national and provincial assemblies without first consulting the supreme court.
He will also be able to continue with his social and economic reforms and determine Pakistan’s regional and international policy goals.
Later on he will also be able to form a National Security Council that will directly involve the armed forces in the government’s formal decision-making process.
The only significant concession he has made to the Islamists is to shed his military uniform by December 2004 - that is a verbal agreement.**
***With President Musharraf now having his required legitimacy, he is in a position to crackdown on Islamic extremists with greater zeal, even at the cost of annoying the Islamic political alliance. ***
When I met Musharraf this past June, I did ask him a question about which post{Presidency or COAS} will he quit. And his answer was the same as he said to Ted Koppel in the interview i.e. he doesn’t like to hold up two office at the same time. One day, he’ll quit one post but declined to say further on this topic.
Now, after 6 months, he fulfilled his promise to what he said which goes back to '99. It’s another move by Musharraf to bring political stability in Pakistan.
