President Pervez Musharraf has called on the people to vote for moderate forces in the 2007 elections and expressed the hope that continuation and strengthening of democratic process will lead to emergence of dynamic leadership in the country.
"Reject extremist and obscurantist forces which want to adopt a confrontationist approach in the world and in the region," he said in an interview to a private television channel aired on Tuesday.
The President stressed that rejection of these extremist forces was necessary to take Pakistan forward as economically a strong country, which enjoys honour and dignity world-wide.
He held out a firm assurance to hold a free, fair and transparent election and asked the people to vote for moderate forces. "I ask people, especially the intellectuals to come out and be counted; vote for the moderate forces; every vote counts."
President Musharraf described the next year's general election as a "watershed" in the country's history and expressed the hope that it would lead to a Pakistan "which is on the rise and on its way to success". Responding to a question, the President hoped that as a result of sustainable democracy that has been introduced in the country, dynamic leadership would emerge and grow.
He referred to the elections at the grassroots level and those held for half of the Senate seats and said, for the first time in the country's history, the National Assembly would complete its mandated tenure and elections would be held on time. "That is how leadership will emerge," he added.
On the issue of terrorism, the President said the government was pursuing a holistic strategy to deal with the malaise and the menace of extremism.
He said the government successfully countered al Qaeda terrorists who came to Pakistan after the military action in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 events. They were eliminated from the cities through excellent intelligence and military was deployed to counter them in the mountains, he added.
He said, the focus has now shifted from al Qaeda to Taliban and added, the government has framed a separate strategy to deal with the new environment. A strategy has to be changed and adjusted according to a new environment, he stressed. Musharraf said the government has adopted a different 'approach against extremism which is a state of mind and needed a different strategy' to deal with.
In this context, he referred to the six-pronged strategy of the government that includes check on publication of hate material, preventing misuse of loudspeakers at places of worship, improvement of school syllabus and madrassa strategy to bring these institutions into the national mainstream.
He underlined the need of doing away with extremism and intolerance from the society, saying, it was only possible when the moderate forces come forward and play their role. "This is the way forward," he added.
President described his last month's four-nation tour as the most important visit in the last seven years that helped remove many misperceptions about the country.
The President, who for the first time visited Brussels to meet the European Union leadership, said he found all kinds of misgivings about Pakistan there. "I clarified the position and successfully removed misperception about Pakistan," he added. He said the Kashmir-issue is on the forefront in the EU to which, the President added, he was able to make his contribution towards resolving this long-standing dispute.
On the second leg of his tour, the Musharraf visited Cuba to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit and also held a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines. He described that meeting a breakthrough and a way forward towards resolution of disputes and better relations between Pakistan and India. In the United States and in the UK, the President said he held important meetings with the world leaders and explained to them the recent peace agreement in North Waziristan which, he added, was misperceived by them as a deal with Taliban.
President said he was-successful in removing their misgivings on the deal which had seeds of success in dealing with the problem.