By Muhammad Najeeb
Islamabad(IANS) : Pakistan has rejected the international community’s condemnation of the emergency, saying it was the country’s “internal matter”.
Several countries have expressed their concern over President Pervez Musharraf, in his capacity as army chief, imposing an emergency and promulgating the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) that enables him amend the statute at will.
“We understand that many of our friends have commented on the proclamation of an emergency in the country, which is first and foremost an internal matter of Pakistan,” foreign office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said.
US President George W. Bush has demanded that the constitution be restored and asked Musharraf to doff his military uniform as he had promised.
Musharraf had said that he would quit as army chief after his election as president for another five-year term.
He won the Oct 6 presidential election with a huge margin but the Supreme Court stopped the result notification. It is not clear whether the reconstituted Supreme Court will take up the case since the newly appointed judges cannot issue orders against steps taken by the army chief.
“The president has stated that our friends should show understanding of the ground conditions and the serious challenges that we face in the shape of extremism and terrorism,” Sadiq added.
Musharraf had called representatives of diplomatic missions here to the presidency Monday and explained the reasons behind the emergency.
For the first time, even Pakistan’s all-weather friend China has shown its concern over the imposition of emergency and hoped normalcy will return to Pakistan.
The government has also protested to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for issuing a statement in which he voiced concern over the emergency.
The protest was conveyed to Ban when Pakistan’s UN envoy Munir Akram met him on Monday evening.
A press release issued by the Pakistan mission to the UN said that during the meeting, Akram explained to Ban the “grave and multiple” challenges which had compelled the government to declare a state of emergency.
At the same time, its scope was restricted. Governance continues to be as close as possible to the constitution, with the cabinet, assemblies and other organs of the state functioning normally, Akram added.