By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : Three weeks ahead of general elections, Pervez Musharraf Saturday issued a presidential decree to end the emergency rule he had imposed Nov 3 in Pakistan. The move invoked mixed reaction from opposition parties.
Under the order, the country’s constitution and fundamental rights of the people were restored after revoking the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) signed six weeks ago.
However, deposed judges, who refused to take oath under the PCO, would remain dismissed and curbs on the media would continue. The other judges were administered fresh oath.
Despite the announcement to lift the emergency, curbs on the media and a “purged” judiciary will remain in place, Attorney General Malik Abdul Qyauum said.
Musharraf, a retired army general who took over in a bloodless coup in 1999, cited a rise in Islamic militancy and “judicial interference in running the government” as the prime reasons for proclaiming the emergency and suspension of the constitution.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) rejected the move as insignificant.
He said that lifting of emergency “does not make any difference until Musharraf is in power”.
Another former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who heads the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), cautiously welcomed the move. “We think the lifting of the emergency is an important step but much more needs to be done,” she told reporters in Quetta where she was campaigning for the Jan 8 polls.
The imposition of emergency rule had sparked countrywide protests by opposition political parties, rights activists and lawyers. Many lawyers and human rights activists were arrested but several of them were later released.
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the sacked chief justice, and several other senior judges still remain under house arrest. They have been urging people to rise against Musharraf.