By NNN-PTI
Islamabad : Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s decision not to impose a state of emergency was for the time being and he has not abandoned the idea, the chief of ruling PML-Q, Shujaat Hussain, said.
Hussain also rejected media reports that claimed Musharraf decided against declaring emergency after receiving two telephone calls from US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
“Who is she to interfere in our affairs? General Musharraf takes decisions in accordance with our interests,” he was quoted as saying by the media here as the Foreign Office acknowledged yesterday that the issue of emergency figured during the telephone talks between Musharraf and Rice.
Admitting that he was one of those who advised Musharraf to declare emergency, mainly to deal with a spate of suicide bombings in the country, Hussain said the idea has not been abandoned.
According to him, the President had turned down the advice saying that such a step would benefit former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking directive for authorities not to obstruct his return home from exile.
Hussain said if emergency is imposed at a later stage it would be well within the Constitutional parameter and that he would support it.