ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, announced Sunday that he wanted parliamentary elections to be held by early January but did not set a date for ending emergency rule, making it likely that any elections will take place with the constitution suspended and most civil liberties banned.
Musharraf told foreign journalists he had declared a state of emergency Nov. 3 “to save the democratic process” from a paralyzing conflict among the branches of government and to strengthen the ability of the security forces to fight Islamic insurgents and terrorism.
“This was the most difficult decision I have ever taken,” Musharraf said. “I had to take a drastic measure to save the democratic process. … I stand by it because I think it was in the nation’s interest.”
With the growing terrorist threat and the country in “turmoil,” he said, emergency rule “is required to ensure peace and an atmosphere conducive to elections.”
But even as Musharraf sought to defend the highly unpopular measure, under which thousands of civilians have been arrested and independent TV channels shut down, his government took a step closer to martial law by adding new military powers that permit the court-martialing of civilians for offenses ranging from treason to “giving statements conducive to public mischief.”
Reaction from opposition leaders, legal analysts and human-rights groups to Musharraf’s latest moves was extremely critical. Many said it would be impossible to hold credible elections under emergency rule and that the intensifying military crackdown was largely aimed at prolonging Musharraf’s grip on power.
“There is one thing very clear now, that one man is pitched up against the whole nation, just to keep himself in power at all cost,” said Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for an opposition group led by Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister sent into exile after Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup.
“To save the country from disaster,” he added, “Gen. Musharraf must resign and let democratic forces deal with the menace of terrorism and extremism.”
Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister who is leading a separate movement against Musharraf, was more muted in her response, reflecting her ambivalent position as potentially both the president’s rival and partner in power. Bhutto called his election announcement “a first positive step” but said it would be difficult to hold elections under emergency rule.
Bhutto has been calling for public demonstrations against Musharraf since she returned from exile last month, and she plans to lead a massive protest Tuesday that will travel 250 miles from the eastern city of Lahore to Islamabad, the capital.
But before her return, she was negotiating a power-sharing agreement with the general, and she could still conceivably become prime minister with Musharraf as a civilian president.
Musharraf, who was elected to a new five-year term as president by the outgoing Parliament and provincial legislatures last month, has promised to take off his military uniform and rule as a civilian once the Supreme Court upholds his right to the office. On Sunday, he reiterated that pledge, adding that he had “no personal ambitions” and was determined to hold free and fair elections for Parliament.
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Rice urges quick end to state of emergency
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Pakistan’s military ruler Sunday to lift the nation’s state of emergency as soon as possible, expressing concern that Gen. Pervez Musharraf has not said when he would restore citizens’ rights.
At the same time, Rice said it was a positive sign that Musharraf has pledged to hold parliamentary elections by mid-January. There had been concerns voting could be delayed by as much as a year in the wake of his declaration that he was suspending the constitution.
“It’s not a perfect situation, and nobody would suggest that it is,” Rice said on “This Week” on ABC. Pakistan has come far, she said, since Musharraf came to power in a coup in 1999 and since 2001, when he pledged to help pursue terrorists.
She said the role of the United States should be to persuade Pakistan to return to democracy and civilian rule. Asked whether it was time for Musharraf to step down, Rice said the focus should be on holding free and fair elections.
