By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency Saturday evening, suspending the constitution and ordering troops to secure key government buildings.
“The chief of the army staff (Musharraf) has proclaimed state of emergency and issued provisional constitutional order (PCO),” a brief announcement on the state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) said at 6.10 p.m. Pakistan time without giving any details. All private news channels were immediately taken off the air.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was removed from his post and troops took control of the Supreme Court.
All 13 Supreme Court judges have been asked to take fresh oath under the PCO but eight of them, including the chief justice, were taken into custody after they termed as unconstitutional the declaration of a state of emergency.
Under the PCO, the constitution has been suspended and the federal cabinet under Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz ceases to exist.
Musharraf’s move comes in the face of increasing Islamist activity in the country and a possibly adverse Supreme Court verdict against his eligibility to hold the office for a second term.
Militants aligned to the Taliban and Al Qaeda have virtually taken over the picturesque Swat Valley in the North West Frontier Province, capturing large numbers of Pakistani Army troops and demanding the imposition of Sharia law in the region.
The Supreme Court is hearing a clutch of petitions against Musharraf’s eligibility to contest the Oct 6 election for a second term in office. The court had permitted the balloting to take place but had ordered that the result be withheld till it decided on the petitions against Musharraf.
The court was to have delivered its verdict by Nov 2 but this had got delayed as arguments by the two sides took inordinately long. The court would not have sat all of next week as one of the 11-bench members has taken leave in view of his son’s wedding.
Chief Justice Chaudhry had withdrawn from the bench given his sacking and later reinstatement earlier this year. Judge Javed Iqbal heads the bench.
The hearing was to have resumed on Nov 12, while Musharraf’s term would have expired Nov 15. Pakistan’s constitution provides for the president to remain in office till his successor takes oath.
Faced with such a situation, there had been veiled hints that Musharraf would not only remain in office but also continue to wear the army chief’s uniform that he had promised to shed before beginning his second term.
At least two federal ministers had dropped broad hints that Musharraf would impose martial law or a state of emergency if the court verdict went against him.
Given this, it is not surprising that the PTV announcement referred to Musharraf as the army chief and not as the president.
Musharraf’s move is seen as a direct slight to US President George W. Bush, who had sent a top military commander to Islamabad to warn against any such drastic step.
At his meeting with Musharraf here Friday, Admiral William J. Fallon, who heads the US Central Command, had warned him against imposing an emergency, saying this would jeopardize the extensive American financial support for the Pakistani military.
Informed sources said military and paramilitary troops were deployed at all government buildings including those of PTV, Radio Pakistan and the Supreme Court ahead of Musharraf’s announcement.
A government official said that the Judges Colony, where almost all Supreme Court judges reside, was surrounded by soldiers.
“Troops have been deployed at all government buildings including the Judges Colony,” the official told IANS.
Under the PCO all executive powers have been transferred to Musharraf.
Musharraf, who assumed power in October 1999 after overthrowing the elected government of prime minister Nawaz Sharif, had announced he would quit as army chief after Nov 15 when his first term in presidency expires. He had also named General Ashfaq Kiani as his successor following pressure from the international community.
Lawyers who have been protesting against Musharraf were undaunted by the announcement.
“Whether it is martial law or emergency, lawyers would be on streets and continue their struggle against the military dictator,” Aitzaz Ahsan, newly elected chief of the Supreme Court Bar Association, told IANS.
He said he was going to meet his colleagues and would announce their strategy after the meeting.
Leaders from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which is in power-sharing negotiations with Musharraf, were reluctant to react. “I heard it on television, let’s see what actually is,” PPP leader Babar Awan told IANS.
PPP chief Benazir Bhutto who returned home from self-exile Oct 18, left the country Nov 1 ostensibly to meet her children in Dubai. She had said she would return on Nov 9, but she left Dubai soon after the announcement of emergency.