By IANS
Islamabad : A beleaguered Pakistani government was Thursday studying the option of imposing a state of emergency, even as US Secretary of State Condoleezza spoke to President Pervez Musharraf in an early morning telephone call.
Significantly, at least two government ministers did not rule out the possibility of an emergency being declared, though the president’s spokesperson denied this would happen.
In Washington, a State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, refused to discuss the substance of the 17-minute Musharraf-Rice conversation that began shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday Pakistan time.
The call followed comments by State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack who said Washington understood Musharraf’s abrupt decision to skip a visit to Afghan capital Kabul on Thursday to attend a key Pakistan-Afghan tribal conclave.
“President Musharraf certainly wouldn’t stay back in Islamabad if he didn’t believe he had good and compelling reasons to stay back,” McCormack told a regular briefing. “Certainly we would understand that.”
Musharraf had met his senior aides on Wednesday apparently “to consider new moves to tackle an uncertain political situation, including the possibility of imposing emergency that would mean suspension of most fundamental rights”, Dawn Thursday quoted political sources as saying.
The situation also figured in informal discussions during a dinner hosted Wednesday by ruling Pakistan Muslim League president Shujaat Hussain, who was quoted by a federal minister as saying an emergency could be imposed.
Population Welfare Minister Shahbaz Hussain told Dawn the PML president informed his guests that emergency had become a necessity because of the prevailing situation in the country.
On Thursday, however, Shujaat Hussain said otherwise while appearing on the Geo TV news programme “Parliament Cafeteria”.
“Speculation about the possibility of a resort to such a desperate move began after the president cancelled a visit to Kabul and did not abate even after some government spokesmen either denied or said they were unaware of such a move,” the newspaper said.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has instead gone to Kabul to lead the Pakistan delegation at the conclave that will consider ways to peacefully deal with the raging militancy along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The speculation was also fuelled by the prospect of an early return home of exiled former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif “and its impact on the political climate in the country where many parliament members could switch loyalties and cloud Gen Musharraf’s desire to get himself elected as president for another term from the present assemblies”, Dawn said.
A petition filed on behalf of Sharif seeking an unhindered return from forced exile is due to be taken up by the Supreme Court, while lawyers of the self-exiled Bhutto were known to be considering to go to court for the removal of any hurdles.
The president has previously been denying any intention to resort to declaring an emergency, which can be imposed under the constitution’s articles 232 and 233 that deal with political activities, press freedom and other fundamental rights granted under articles 15, 16, 17 and 19.
The government came under heavy criticism during a law and order debate by the National Assembly last week, particularly in the light of last month’s military operation to clear Islamabad’s Lal Masjid and the adjoining Jamia Hafsa madrassah of militants seeking to enforce their brand of an Islamic code in the country – and a subsequent wave of suicide bombings killing civilians and security personnel.
The law and order situation also figured during a foreign policy debate that was stretched to a fourth day Wednesday.
Law and Justice Minister Mohammad Wasi Zafar and presidential spokesperson Major-General (retired) Rashid Qureshi denied any decision had been taken to impose an emergency.
However, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Tariq Azim Khan said on a private TV channel that such a course could be an option that could not be ruled out.
Attorney-General Malik Abdul Qayyum said in a separate interview that an emergency, if imposed, would not affect the presidential election that the government says must be held between Sep 15 and Oct 15, while the present assemblies elected in 2002 run out their five-year terms in mid-November.