President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has declared a state of emergency in Pakistan on Saturday. It has now been announced at PTV. The emergency decision comes ahead of a crucial Supreme Court decision on whether to overturn his recent election win.
The news caster at PTV didn’t give any reasons for emergency but read the following text:
The chief of army staff has proclaimed a state of emergency and issued a provisional constitutional order.
Earlier, Pakistan’s private TV channels had suddenly gone off-air amid speculations that emergency was going to be imposed.
An earlier Reuters report which was among the first to break the news read:
Private television channels Geo News and Dawn News both ran reports quoting unnamed sources as saying the government had made its decision. Speculation has been rife that Musharraf, who is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on whether he was eligible to run for re-election last month while still army chief, might impose emergency rule or martial law
This has not been the first time that government thought about imposing emergency. The idea has been flirted with from time to time. Rumors kept appearing from time to time from as early as August 8, 2007. We also had a post on this topic then.
According to CNN:
The Supreme Court has declared the state of emergency illegal, claiming Musharraf had no power to suspend the constitution, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry told CNN.
People were already sensing something was about to happen when Benazir suddenly left the country two days ago without even going to other provinces of the country except Sindh. It may be true that she indeed left Pakistan to be with her ailing mother but it never stops people from speculating. Also the earlier news where Government circles were advising Benazir not to come to Pakistan before Supreme Court decision now seem to put missing links to a continuum.
According to Washington Post news:
The United States had tried to pressure Musharraf on Friday to avoid declaring emergency rule or martial law. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday sent a warning to Musharraf not to take authoritarian measures to hold on to power. “I think it would be quite obvious that the United States would not be supportive of extra-constitutional means,” Rice said. “Pakistan needs to prepare for and hold free and fair elections.” That message was followed by a previously scheduled meeting between Musharraf and Adm. William J. Fallon, chief of the U.S. Central Command.
Complete text of emergency declaration can be read here
A plan of action beyond a usual statement of condemnation
Friends of South Asia (www.friendsofsouthasia.org) is meeting on Sunday, November 4, at 6 pm at Newark City library for its Eid-Diwali program and to brainstorm on devising a strategy to deal with the present political crisis in Pakistan. Here is the first draft of a plan of action FOSA is working on and would like to discuss in the meeting.
C.
With the imposition of Emergency on November 3 General Pervez Musharraf has plunged Pakistan into terrible uncertainty. Whereas General Pervez Musharraf says he took the precarious step to save Pakistan, no one doubts the only thing Musharraf is interested in saving is his own grip on power.
We condemn Pervez Musharraf’s latest authoritarian decree and want Pakistanis and well-wishers of Pakistan to build pressure on him to take back the emergency measures. But having witnessed Pervez Musharraf’s propensity to sacrifice anything for his own personal gain we doubt if Musharraf under any cogent force would backtrack.
Considering Pakistanis desire for democracy, the recent struggle for the restoration of a Chief Justice illegally removed by the dictator, the ongoing pro-civil society debates in the erstwhile independent Pakistani media, and the pro-democracy sentiments within the Pakistan Army we wish to humbly suggest a shorter path towards restoring order in Pakistan.
In order to facilitate removal of Pervez Musharraf and to avoid further chaos in the country by keeping its institutions intact we urge Pakistanis in general and Pakistan’s political parties in particular to quickly form an interim government. The interim government and events related to its enactment should have the following features:
1. The interim government should be headed by an interim president who would hold free and fair general elections in the shortest span of time.
2. To ensure working of an independent judiciary all Supreme Court judges deposed on November 3 by Pervez Musharraf should be restored to their positions.
3. Pakistan Army should stop taking orders from Pervez Musharraf and current Vice Chief of Army Staff, General Kayani should immediately take charge of the forces. General Kayani should work under the interim president.
4. All political workers and members of legal fraternity arrested in the wake of emergency should be released.
5. All bureaucratic institutions with their current officers should keep functioning under the interim president.
We urge Pakistani political parties to quickly consent to an interim president. One choice obvious to many would be Retired Chief Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed who as a public servant not only had a spotless career, but who gained considerable public support while recently running for President against Pervez Musharraf
Till an interim government through the wishes of Pakistanis and Pakistan’s political parties takes command we ask all citizens to commence an indefinite strike starting from Monday, November 5.
Ali Reza,
” Mohtarema Fatima Jinnah supported Gen. Ayub.”
Pakistan’s CDA has indeed Garbage disposal problems.
@ajmal, Fatima Jinnah supported Gen. Ayub when he came to power through a coup. Its our pattern.
@Ghalib:
Cacha jaan aap k last post ney mujhe aap ka he ek nadir shair yaad dila diya
Bazicha-e-Atfal hey Dunya Merey Agay
Hota Hey shab-o-roz Tamasha Merey Agay
where dunya=Pakistan
Well ofcourse musharraf can’t leave like that.He needs to set up a care taker government and then leave.And theat goernment will need to hold elections in whih BB and NZ should not be allowed to take part or become PM.
Well try to give Imran Khan a chance and he will prove his worth.
I am blaming army also.I still love my army but I am against those generals who have hijacked country several times. These generals were the ones who didn’t hesitate to go that far to let ayub khan win against Fatma Jinaah.
I am also not a fan of Musharraf, but you have to see reality. Military should not rule the country, there is no doubt about it, but the point I am trying to make is that when I see the hypocrisy, immaturity and undemocratic ways of Political forces and Judiciary, I found Musharraf more democratic from some of his actions (opening the media, local government democracy etc.).
How many polictical parties are there in the country where you can join them and have your own say in party decisions in a democratic way.
You can only blame Army and Musharraf when everything was fine in our democratic and Judiciary system and suddenly Musharraf took over to rule the country.
Tell me one thing, do you think if today Musharraf leave the power and ask these democratic leader, Judiciary and media to take care of the country, how do you suggest things will go. Can the democratic parties settle down the power issue without any bloody conflict among themselves?
Another ‘gem’ from Musharraf and his supporters is the riciculous claim that the media is playing a disruptive role.
The same Musharraf’s government does nothing against illegal FM stations run by terrorists and then he and his apologists blame the mainstream channels for showing the mirror.
An e-mail from a friend comments on a line from the PCO:
“WHEREAS constant interference in executive functions, including but not limited to the control of terrorist activity, economic policy, price controls, downsizing of corporations and urban planning, has weakened the writ of the government…”
So economic development, according to the Omniscient dictator means unbridled free for all loot & plunder that was going on in Pakistan in the last several
years. I don’t know of any civilized nation that doesn’t check cartels & oligopolies and doesn’t prevent its assets from being sold at throw-away prices.
If it wasn’t sufficient that our government was single-handedly INCAPABLE of taking these anti-monopoly measures, and then when the supreme court tried
to fill the vacuum, it even took offense at it!
What a shameful lot we have got upon our heads.