Saleem S. Rizvi
Pictures sometimes speak volumes. The picture of Pervez Musharraf’s oath ceremony, shown all over the world, is certainly one of them. It speaks volumes, loud and clear, about a bitter and remorseless retired general who still wants to be at the helm of power by all means possible.
After shedding his military uniform that he notoriously claimed to be his skin, Pervaz Musarraf took the oath of office as the thirteenth president of Pakistan, pledging to “preserve and defend” the Constitution. But which constitution is he referring to? If his oath is to “preserve and defend” the Constitution of Pakistan that he himself has suspended, then doesn’t such pledge bring this hypocrisy into the open? What else should one call it? Why should we trust him this time around when it is he who has suspended the Constitution with a single stroke of the pen, and now is pretending to be its defender?
The picture further reveals another disturbing paradox: Here is a President without a parliament. Doesn’t his “election” by the expiring parliament raise a plethora of legal and constitutional questions about its legitimacy? By violating the letter and spirit of the Constitution, and by savagely sacking the higher judiciary, he got himself elected by an outgoing parliament, which has no power to elect a new president. Just think of the horrible outcome of such shameful act. By doing so, he has deprived the future parliament of its right to elect its own president.
Another person appearing in the picture, a few inches shorter in height and a lot in legitimacy is Musharraf’s hand- picked Chief Justice of the apex court. This so- called chief justice of the Supreme Court, who administered Musharraf’s oath, did not himself take the oath of office under the Constitution of Pakistan; rather he took oath under the PCO. Isn’t his elevation to this position the product of Musharraf’s flagrantly illegal and unconstitutional dismissal of the higher judiciary? The whole world knows that the pre- November 3 judiciary, comprised of independent- minded judges was about to render its judgment against Musharraf before he imposed Martial Law. The defiant judges of the apex court, who refused to take oath under the PCO, issued a 58 page joint judgment a couple of weeks ago , The judgment was sent to the Supreme Court but, for obvious reasons, it was not released by the authorities to the public.
In the judgment, the judges declare,
“… we earnestly feel that there appears to be enough substance and force in the submission of the petitioners that General Musharraf could not contest election from the current assemblies as outgoing assemblies can not be allowed to bind the successor assemblies to be elected as a result of popular mandate. Furthermore, members of present Electoral College, who have already expressed their opinion by expressing a vote of confidence immediately after their assumption of office, may not be in a position to exercise their right of franchise freely and independently. They would naturally be influenced and swayed by their earlier decision…….It may be further observed that the president being an integral part of the parliament, it would be quite inconceivable and unusual that the parliament with whom a president has to work in total cordiality and harmony should not be elected by such parliament.”
There is an overwhelming consensus among domestic and international political observer that the principal reason for Musharraf to impose Martial Law was to silence the higher judiciary. It was for the first time in the history of Pakistan that the judiciary began to exhibit considerable degree of maturity, independence, and assertiveness, which was seen by Musarraf as a grave threat to his personal ambitions. Therefore, in the name of public interest, he imposed Martial law and deposed the judiciary.
After sacking independent judges and replacing them with submissive and docile ones, Musharraf feels relieved. Now, he has a new Supreme Court, willing to bend backward to please him. Therefore, in his inaugural speech, he declares, “Now as the democracy has come back on track in the country, I have taken oath as a civilian President and the law and order situation has been improved, therefore, there is no need for emergency any more.” He further claims, “There was no democracy at all in the country in the past and it will be for the first time in the history of Pakistan that democracy in full be introduced.”
By making such declarations, isn’t the retired general proving himself delusional? Can any one in his right mind make such outlandish claims, when the Constitution is held in abeyance, the state structure is being destroyed, the civil rights are suspended, the media is gagged, the judges and eminent lawyers are in house arrests, the political activist are on the run, and the police and intelligence agencies are fully deployed to commit barbaric acts against the civil society?
In the same speech, one can find several hints as to what Musharraf has in mind as his next game plan. Musharraf says, “I am sure that Pakistan will go stronger with me as a civilian president and with general Kayani as army chief.” Watch out! Now, the only and the lonely Messiah thinks he is not alone any longer in his “quest” to save Pakistan. Is he being delusional once again?
As Musharraf shows no regrets and remorse for what he has done to the decent people of his country and shows more wrong-headedness and stringency, we can easily imagine what he is really up to. His past and present acts are a horrifying tale of recklessness, selfishness, and ruthless savagery. In addition, he is highly unpredictable: his 180 degree turns and flip-flopping is legendary.
In the same speech, the retired general displays his irritability towards international community, which is demanding for restoration of democracy and upholding of civil rights in Pakistan with one voice. He tends to believe that such international protest against the abuses being committed by him are some kind of intervention in the internal affairs of Pakistan. After all, he has been the sole arbiter responsible for Pakistan and its people for the last eight years, and in such messianic capacity, he thinks and believes that only he knows what is best for Pakistan.
He also believes that universally held democratic norms and human rights cannot be given to the people of Pakistan, as they are net ready yet. One wonders if he thinks of Pakistan society as subhuman, still living in the dark ages. He wants to decide when and if the people of Pakistan ever become “eligible” for such rights. In his own words, “One can not sacrifice stability and development of the nation for your views on democracy, civil liberties and human rights.” Every word of this statement reveals his contempt for democracy and the rule of law as he tends to believe that democracy, civil liberties and human rights pose danger to national stability and development.
Now he tells us that he will soon lift his Martial law. We know he has no other choice. We also know that he is not doing it because he realized it was wrong. Rather his reasons are opportunistic. Through his Martial law, he already got what he wanted: The annihilation of the higher judiciary. In his heartless pursuit of power, Musharraf has conveniently forgotten that he has committed something very serious. We do not know what his legal advisors have been advising him, but if he really wants to know what he has done, he should be reading the following article of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Article 6 of the Constitution of Pakistan states that,
“Any person who abrogates or attempts or conspires to abrogate, subvert or attempts to conspire to subvert the constitution by use of the force or show of force or by other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.”
About the Author: Saleem S. Rizvi is a New York based senior attorney.
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A couple of bloggers who are constantly recycling the same propaganda over and over again do not seem to understand the following:
An emergency is a constitutional measure permitted by the constitution to address extreme crises only.
First, the crises must be extreme and secondly, the emergency declaration must be limited in its nature and scope.
Please also keep in mind that an emergency can be declared only under the Constitution. Also note that it can only be declared by the President. Now the question is whether Musharraf has imposed what he termed as an emergency on the people of Pakistan, as the President. The answer is NO, because he declared it as the army chief. Another question which arises is whether he has declared it under the Constitution. Again the answer is No because he has held the Constitution in abeyance. Simply said, that he has suspended, or even worse, abrogated the Constitution at his whim. Therefore, it is not an emergency - rather it is martial law declared by the army chief. One should also ask what is the army chief’s source of power to declare either martial law or an emergency?
Musharraf did not stop there. In order to keep power in his own hands, he made an amendment in the PCO as the army chief giving the President (which he is now) the power to lift what he called an emergency, depriving the current army chief the power to lift it.
As I said earlier, if we truly believe in a democratic system of government, we must resist any attempts by anyone who tries to build a coercive state apparatus. The argument is very straight forward. The army’s main responsibility under the Constitution, is to defend the country against foreign aggression. It has no business in politics under the Constitution. Once it starts mingling in politics, it not only loses sight of its real responsibility but also loses its credibility and strength.
Friends, I couldn’t agree with you more on how Musharraf has done more good than bad for Pakistan, but the author has an opinion and we should respect it. I don’t think we should be making judgments on his opinion or using words like hypocrite.
My apologies to Rizvi Sahab for that.
To answer your question: you are lawyer and you have a different perspective. You are too focused on the book of law. My point is to look at the big picture. I don’t think we should always have a one man rule but look at where our country is. How do we get out of this mess? Democracy at this stage will only bring the same old people, we have tried and tested. Laws are made to for human beings, human beings are not made for laws. Let’s adjust a bit to get out of this mess and once we stablize, we can have all the democracy we want.
regards
Thanks ali, I thought these things would never surface. Some issues and wars are resolved quietly. Unfortunatly Pakistanies do not realise the need of working with West while keeping their ass saved from them at the same time and strengthing our good relations with the arabs and china.
The best part of the article was:“You can’t beat us at our own game.”.
Once Musharraf is gone, Pakistan will be in grave danger. People dnt get how important it is to keep showing the west a face that satisfies them!!
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IL06Df03.h tml
please read ……….must read
Unfortunately for us even with democracy those elected are racists, fascists, separatists, who are opposed to the preservation of civil, political and economic rights and actively prevent development of civil and political institutions. That is the dilemma. The people of Pakistan have no real alternative, its a rigged game where all the doors lead to the same outcome.
Some ground realities:
Power:
Musharraf did not come to power by desire, It was NS’s hunger for power who changed an army chief first and then atempted again. Army accepted that once, but was defiant on second attempt. BB wasnt any nicer then NS, she took away all powers of a President and made it just a formal Post. Musharraf has taken off his uniform as he promissed, and even now given a date for end to PCO. Is he power hungry?, NO. (I will come to PCO later).
Corruption:
I think, I do not have to answer this, even Anti-Musharraf people have accepted that he is not corrupt. But, lets see BB, well she bought a castle from taxpayer;s money, ddnt she! and her husband is Mr.10%. What about NS, well his factories doubled during his terms and there were alot of rice and sugar factories that closed down and government machinery declared going in loss during his second term.
Leadership:
Musharraf made key decisions to safeguard pakistan’s interests. Just see how wisely he has managed Dr.Qadeer Khan’s issue. Even the west now says that Pakistan’s Nukes are safe.
Controversies of Musharraf
Musharraf’s decision to restigate X-CJ and impose PCO has been the most controversial. Only he knows why he did so, I believe he must have done it in good faith from what he has done for pakistan previously. I remember we said so many things when Dr.Qadeer’s issue started but now everyone will agree that it was handled very carefully. Lets not forget that during his time, we had natural desasters, internal and external problems, he have seen us thru very bad times.
Musharraf’s Legacies
Local governmence system.
Less Corruption.
Better Economy.
Gawadar Port
Better relations with India.
Refugees returned to Afganistan.
Freedom of speech.
Development (Id scheme, more motorways developed, more development in cities … so many!)
I hope he stays for another 5 years and make sure Pakistan is clean of Militants, Kashmire dispute is resolved and Key projects like Motorway, Gawadar & KalaBag dam are complete & he shall be remembered as Pakistan’s savior and best leader we ever have had.
@ Ahmad R. Shahid, You have missed some responses to your previous posts i believe :)
Saleem Rizvi , I will make another effort to answer your confusions.
Let me correct you brother, it is not Martial-Law. PCO is an act allowed in the constitute which means that curbing on media and restricting larg protests is by declaring PCO is allowed by 1973’s constitution. We do not see army on the streets, standing guard on district government buildings nor we see any bashing of people by army, yes there have been arrests by the police, they have to do whatever law says. Secondly the X-CJ took oath under PCO as well.
The article 6 that you have stated should actually be practiced on the very lawyers you are talking about. The reason because Lawyers in pakistan have never fought for the people’s rights. How many lawyer associations are there that give free consiliation to poor people? NONE. How many lawers are there that would fight a case for free of a poor man? NONE. But how many lawyers are there who would fight BB or NS’s cases for free cz that will help them make PR? EVERYONE!. They are not serving the nation, they are serving their own needs. So please, do not argue over lawyers getting beaten by police. During the X-CJ’s restigation, Police declared an area around the election commission as No Entry Zone becuase, lawyers said they will burn the building down; Police only started beating them and newsreporters when they crossed that boundry. I think it is fair enough, who ever does not respect the law should be dealt with, only then they will understand.
About the other freedom of speech and human rights laws, tell me one case where Musharraf has stopped a newspaper’s publication? OH but in BB’s time, she managed to stop Nawa-e-waqt’s publications for almost a week! The ban on GEO & ARY was well deserved, I have never seen them showing any documentary on BB or NS’s corruption, have you? instead their shows have had negative approach to the gov only, criticism is welcomed but it should be productive. This was hypocracy and propoganda by Anti-Musharraf which has brain washed so many pakistanies
3- Pakistan is gearing up for yet another elections early next year, and for an indepth analysis, news and, discussion, and extensive debate, click on
Pakistan Elections 2008