Sunday, November 04, 2007

November 3 will go down as another dark day in Pakistan’s political and constitutional history. It can be safely said that this is one of General Pervez Musharraf’s gravest errors of judgment, and a sorry indication that nothing has been learnt from the mistakes of the past. The imposition of emergency rule and suspension of the 1973 Constitution announced on Saturday is only going to destroy the very institutions that this country crucially needs for evolving into a true democracy, particularly the judiciary, media and parliament. It will further fracture an already weakened federation, alienate those who have grievances against the centre, such as the Tribal Areas and Balochistan, and push whatever little credibility the government had down a very deep abyss. Such a draconian step will also have little effect on our ability to fight terrorism and extremism. It would be fair to assume that the emergency has been imposed only to target two institutions: the judiciary and the media but it may well have poisonous effects on another: i.e. parliament. Those in the ruling PML-Q will be foolish not to realise that the legislative branch of government has received a death blow as well since the imposition has come from an army general.

The fact that the official statement carrying the emergency announcement used ‘army chief’ rather than president to refer to the authority behind the promulgation is significant as well indicating that perhaps what we have on our hands is a de facto martial law — one in which the assemblies will function but only to give the impression that democracy has not been hampered in any manner. Furthermore, the timing of the proclamation, a few days before an expected judgment on a case that could have potentially declared the president’s re-election null and void, is such that very few people in this country, or overseas for that matter, will buy the argument that it has been imposed to arrest the deteriorating law and order situation and to allow the government to focus on fighting extremism and militancy. It will be difficult to remove public doubts that it has only been imposed to target a superior judiciary that has finally found some spine and is carrying out its constitutional role of acting as a watchdog on the executive, which in Pakistan’s case was often overstepping its constitutionally-defined authority. As for the media, the fact that private television channels were blacked out for the better part of Saturday is a grim indication of the government’s intentions. However, here too, such bans are essentially counter-productive and will be seen by ordinary Pakistanis as a desperate act of a regime bent on shielding itself from criticism.

Meanwhile, the Chief Justice of Pakistan has been informed that his services were no longer required. In any case, the promulgation of a provisional constitutional order would mean that most of the judges of the Supreme Court who had in recent weeks taken a brave and defiant stand against the government and the military would be pushed aside and not be invited to take a fresh oath; many would in all probability decline such an offer. As news of the imposition of emergency spread, eight members of the Supreme Court defiantly struck down the proclamation, which could well trigger off a new stand-off. The future is not looking good — not least because the president’s move is bound to have massive repercussions and a severe response from all segments of civil society. Such acts are indefensible at any time, more so in this day and age.

Another move towards absolutism

November 04 Editorial Dawn Pakistan

SO we are back to square one. Back to Oct 12, 1999. All the gains over the years have gone down the drain. All this talk about the forward thrust towards democracy, about the impending ‘third phase’ of the political process and the lip service to the sanctity of judiciary turned out to be one great deception. The people have been cheated. In a nutshell, one-man rule has been reinforced, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel – a tunnel that is dark and winding with an end that is perhaps blocked. The reports about emergency rule were denied umpteenth times by President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. The denials were bogus. From now on it would simply be a waste of newspaper space and channel time if ever a denial by this government is printed or aired.

In a sense this is Gen Pervez Musharraf’s second coup. Just as Ziaul Haq assumed all powers for himself twice – first in 1977 in what was a classical coup d’etat and in 1988 by using powers under article 58-2b of the Constitution -Musharraf has followed suit with some difference. In his second coup, Zia sent Junejo packing; in this second Musharraf coup, the Constitution has been held in abeyance and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his ministers will continue to function. But his rule is now absolute, and civil society and democracy have received a blow. The general had not addressed the nation till the writing of these lines. All private channels had gone off air, and only the state-controlled PTV released the proclamation of emergency order which spoke of the ‘visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists’ as the reason for imposing the emergency. Frankly, not even the most naïve amongst us would buy this line. In what way does the proclamation of emergency help in prosecuting the war on terror?

Already, the president enjoys all the powers that a ruler could possibly hope to amass. He is Chief of the Army Staff, he is president and he is supreme commander of the armed forces. What more power does he want? After all, for crushing the militants he will use those very military and paramilitary forces which are already doing the job -the Frontier Constabulary, the Frontier Corps, the army, the Rangers, and the plethora of intelligence agencies about whose incompetence now no one has any doubts. We state emphatically what has forced Gen Musharraf to declare emergency are the doubts about the outcome of the Supreme Court’s judgment on his right to contest the presidential election. No one is going to accept what he is going to tell us, neither the people of Pakistan nor the aid-givers. Despite public declarations to the contrary, the voices demanding him ‘to do more’ may be the only ones not unhappy with these developments as they would expect him to deliver more effectively. But we ask: can a general who does not enjoy the people’s mandate really carry the nation along and fight the terrorists alone?