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
Whats going on with our beloved country Pakistan. I am sure that we dont deserve it. We should do something against this to show we are not deserving it. Our government and politicians are just setting scores. As far as Bhutto is concerned, she acts like she is a very good Muslim. Doesn’t she know that there is a Hadith that ,the nation who has female leader can not survie? and we are illeterate enough that we dont know it either and rushing to vote her! my heart shakes when i think about our country’s future. The government is the worst and the country is the best. May Allah Help us! :-(
Musharraf did that only to save himself from the judicial embarrasment he was going to face. For a few days, the government had been acting as if it knows the supreme court decision will be against it. In all three cases, Nawaz Sharif, NRO and Musharraf’s candidature, the government seemd to be weak on legal grounds.
Emergency will not give the general any extra power that he already does not have.
In our country, decisions are made in national interest to preserve self interest. Tell me if any of the generals have left gracefully, they ride on the horse of a self proclaimed saviour but their exit is usually ignominious and leaves a lot of destruction in the wake.
The important thing is that, we the chattering classes must strive to block the entry of these military saviours because they enter without the intention of leaving.
I hope my country survives the onslaught of this saviour and gives us, the people of Pakistan the ability to understand that the only way Pakistan can prosper is through a political process.
I just felt exaspareted. Like
Some comments are irrelevant to the event, and are
thrown in like a donkey in a cook fight.
fully agree with above comment
who need a foriegn army to split pakistan when our own is making a good job of it.
ghadar hay
ghadar hay