Pakistan’s military ruler won a vote of confidence from both houses of parliament and the country’s four provincial assemblies on Thursday in a carefully orchestrated process that empowers him to finish out his five-year term as president. The opposition walked out in protest and denounced the proceedings as a sham. The balloting on President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s future follows a surprise deal with a coalition of hardline Islamic parties that agreed to support his claim to the presidency in return for a promise that he step down as army chief by the end of 2004. Full Story