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
Other than the Emergency what political future holds for Pakistan, emergency or no emergency is not a big deal. Who will lead after Parvez Musharaaf, even after 10 years, it is a tragedy that Pakistan did not produce a mass leader after Z.Bhutto, but he himself was a corrupt man.
Pakistani should think about that, the army will never let any powerful and intelligent leader to succeed in the country. Terrorism is just secondary used as an excuse by the ruling houses in Pakistan.
@Viqar: can you please tell how are you able to see AAJ in Pakistan? URL please?
Leaders are but a reflection of society. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said, “As you are, so will be the rulers that will be set over you”.
Khumar Barabankvi in a couplet says:
duusaro.n pe agar tabsiiraa kiijiye
saamane aa_iinaa rakh liyaa kiijiye
Editorial, The News, Nov 5, 2007
Age of darkness
Monday, November 05, 2007
With the flickering off screens of private media channels, as a state of emergency, which in effect is a euphemism for martial law, was imposed on Saturday, Pakistan entered a new age of darkness. The two institutions, the judiciary and the media, which in recent months have given people most cause for cheer, have been the most severely targeted in President Musharraf’s late night speech, following the issuing of the PCO. As for the claim that the federal and provincial assemblies will continue to function, this in effect means little as in the absence of an operative constitution, these institutions have no meaningful status.
As had been predicted in the days of speculation that led to the emergency, it is the actions of the judiciary that have come under the severest attack and been used in an attempt to justify the shoving aside what remains of Pakistan’s much tampered with and tattered constitution. Whereas critics other than Musharraf have in the past months expressed some dismay over the volume of cases taken up by the apex court, including hundreds that have attracted suo motu attention, this, more than anything else, shows up the failures of the system of justice delivery at the lower levels. For anyone genuinely interested in putting Pakistan, and its people, first, the measures that needed to be taken was a resolving of the situation where people were denied justice for years due to flaws in the working of district courts. Whereas the wisdom of the Supreme Court in taking on such a vast volume of work raised questions, the issues of ordinary people can only be aggravated by removing the one forum they had used to seek redress from grievance.
And indeed, it must be noted that the other accusations against the court – of interfering in the war on terror, weakening thegovernment’s writ or humiliating and demoralizing government officials – also, more than anything else, expose the weaknesses of the system. From the actions of the court a great deal could have been learned about the working of police, the intelligence services and the bureaucracy. Slip-shod investigative work, that leaves open gaping legal loopholes, is no way to win the war on terror. Adopting a policy of secrecy in this struggle, or indulging in ‘abducting’ suspects, cannot help either. The war on terror must be won not only on the ground – through armed action and the imprisonment of those found guilty – but also in the minds of people. And this can happen only when there is transparency, when courts and people can be informed of crimes committed by alleged terrorists and government functionaries are able to give answers about the wrongs they have committed and how these have, under the law, been dealt with.
The war against militants is now too big to be fought behind closed doors. The full facts about it, and those behind it, need to be made known and not papered over. And, speaking of hiding the truth, while the sudden silencing of private electronic media channels may have brought some immediaterelief to government, in the longer term it will obviously cause more harm than good. For one, as the channels which had made their way into thousands of living rooms over the past five years have vanished, so has the fragile fa
Need of the hour is to SEND FLOWERS TO THE HONOURABLE JUDGES who Refused to take Oath under PCO and sacrificed their Career.
To a very pleasent surprise Even Justice Javaid Iqbal sacrificed and refused to become the Chief Justice.