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Pakistan Emergency Rule to Be Short; Bhutto Protests

By admin | November 7, 2007

Pakistan’s government said the period of emergency rule will be short, as opposition leader Benazir Bhutto called for protests today over the imposition of the decree four days ago.

“All efforts will be made to minimize the period of the emergency and polls will be held as soon as possible,” Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani said late yesterday after the Cabinet endorsed the Nov. 3 declaration, the official Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

Lawyers protesting emergency rule were prevented from entering court buildings for a third day today. Lawyers in Rawalpindi demonstrated as police sealed offices, Shaukat Rauf, a lawyer, said by telephone. A rally will be held outside Parliament House, Bhutto said in Islamabad yesterday.

President Pervez Musharraf, facing the strongest opposition to his rule since he took power in a 1999 military coup, suspended Pakistan’s constitution, saying judicial interference in government affairs was hampering the fight against terrorism. The U.S. is leading international calls for the decree to be canceled and elections to be held by January as scheduled.

“We will ensure that the emergency imposition does not affect the democratic process,” Durrani said, according to APP. National and regional assemblies are functioning, he added.

Bhutto’s Call

Bhutto, 54, called on Musharraf to retire as army chief, restore democracy, hold free and fair elections and lift curbs on the media immediately. She told a news conference her Pakistan Peoples Party will boycott today’s session of Parliament.

Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan last month after eight years in self-imposed exile, is meeting leaders from other opposition parties to plan protests, Nazir Dhoki, a spokesman for the PPP, said today. The opposition leader is scheduled to address a rally in Rawalpindi near Islamabad on Nov. 9, ignoring a ban on public gatherings issued by Musharraf.

Bhutto must make a clear stance on her position on government policies before Musharraf will meet her for talks, Durrani said.

“Sometimes she talks for reconciliation and at times she opts for a confrontational posture,” he said. “The meeting could be finalized if she comes with a clear strategy.”

Bhutto was involved in power-sharing negotiations with the president that led to her return. Musharraf, 64, gave her amnesty on corruption charges she faced and agreed to give up control of the military by Nov. 15. In return, Bhutto didn’t object to him being re-elected president by the current Parliament.

Lawyers Arrested

As many as 1,000 lawyers and leaders of opposition parties and their supporters have been arrested since Musharraf declared emergency rule.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was fired Nov. 3, yesterday called on government officers to reject the order.

“It is the duty of every citizen and especially lawyers, to struggle for the supremacy of law, independence of the judiciary and real democracy,” lawyer Shaukat Rauf cited Chaudhry as saying in a telephone address to the bar in Islamabad. Lawyers said they will hold daily demonstrations to protest emergency rule.

Musharraf two days ago pledged to return Pakistan to democracy and step down as army chief.

The imposition of emergency rule came as the Supreme Court was nearing a decision on the legality of Musharraf’s Oct. 6 re- election by Parliament and provincial assemblies for a second five-year term as president. Opposition parties had asked the court to disqualify him on the grounds that the constitution barred him from running for another term while army chief.

Aid Review

The U.S. government said it will review financial assistance to the South Asian country in response to the decree, although it won’t cut funding for counterterrorism operations. Pakistan is a U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups operating along the mountainous border with Afghanistan.

U.S. government agencies are looking at their aid programs to Pakistan, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a briefing in Washington yesterday.

“I can’t give you a timeline for how long this review will be under way,” he said. “It’s something that we’re actively engaged in.” The Bush administration has requested $785 million in aid for Pakistan in 2008, about half of which is for the armed forces.

The emergency measures are an internal matter for Pakistan, Muhammad Sadiq, the Foreign Office spokesman, said at a briefing in Islamabad yesterday, according to APP.

“We expect the friendly countries to understand the conditions which have prompted the government to take this extraordinary step,” Sadiq said, citing the growing menace of terrorism in the country.

Islamic gunmen seized the town of Madyan in northwestern Pakistan yesterday, Agence France-Presse reported, citing police. The town is the third to come under the control of forces loyal to Maulana Fazlullah, who is trying to impose Islamic law in the Swat Valley region, it said.

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