Musharraf's Coup Against Judiciary
By Gul Jammas Hussain
07 November, 2007
Countercurrents.orgSupreme Court was expected to decide the legal status of General Pervez Musharraf as President of Pakistan on Tuesday or Wednesday. But with the knowledge that the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhmmad Chaudhry, was set to strip him off presidency, Musharraf made a preemptive strike against the judiciary and invoked emergency rule in the country.
According to the Constitution of Pakistan, an emergency rule can only be proclaimed "If the President is satisfied that a grave emergency exists in which the security of Pakistan, or any part thereof, is threatened by war or external aggression, or by internal disturbance beyond the power of a Provincial Government to control, he may issue a Proclamation of Emergency."
But the time Musharraf declared emergency rule, there was no threat of external aggression nor any other disturbing law and order situation in any province of the country threatening sovereignty of the state, and that is why analysts believe that Musharraf has in truth staged a coup against the judiciary.
Many national and international leaders have also denounced the move as "extra-judicial and extra-constitutional."
The Musharraf government has suspended the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, took thirty-plus private television channels off the air, jammed the mobile phone networks all over the country and imposed severe restrictions on the media.
The Supreme Court responded by instructing all senior army officers and civil servants to disobey all orders made under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) issued by the government.
Chief Justice Chaudhry was deposed from his office when he declared emergency illegal. It was also endorsed by a seven-member bench of the Court. The other dissenting judges were also removed from office and escorted away in police vehicles.
Seven out of the total eleven Supreme Court judges, plus sixty judges of the higher judiciary, refused to take oath under the new Provisional Constitutional Order which is the current basis of the Pakistani government.
Wielding assault rifles, the police on Sunday rounded up prominent opposition leaders, lawyers, journalists, human rights activists -- and detained the dissenting judges.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Seyyed, a close advisor to Musharraf and a top leader of the ruling Muslim League party, termed the emergency rule a "de facto martial law." The senator said in recent days he had repeatedly tried to convince the president not to take emergency measures but was outvoted in Musharraf's inner circle.
Mushahid Hussain, also a distinguished political analyst, warned that the moves taken by the government would be "disastrous for Musharraf and for the country."
"The way forward has to be democratic and constitutional. Any other course is a recipe for disaster. More importantly, it will not be accepted by the people of Pakistan and it will not work," he stated.
Mr. Hussain is dead right. The only way forward for Pakistan is democratic and constitutional. The emergency rules offer no solutions.
For the good of Pakistan, it is hoped that Musharraf would pay attention to men like Senator Hussain in his close circles -- who unlike the opportunist, self-serving politicians -- have the gall to say the truth.
Musharraf should hold fair and free elections next January, allow ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif to return from exile in Saudi Arabia and take part in the political process, and should also revoke the emergency rule, restore the deposed judges, and lift the curbs on media.
Benazir Bhutto had been spending the weekend with her family in Dubai but when she heard about the emergency news Saturday she boarded the first plane available to Karachi, and declared that "People want leadership."
"I came back so I could do this and raise their morale and bring back democracy. The military alone cannot deal with Pakistan's problems."
Musharraf should know that Ms. Bhutto is a veteran of fighting against military rulers, who in 1980s took the might of General Zia-ul Haq on. She would love to take Musharraf's challenge head-on if he didn't leave another option for her.
Then there is lawyer community of eighty thousand powerful members who would not sit idle waiting for the spring to come.
General Musharraf has already seen the force of the lawyers' movement when they successfully got the Chief Justice Chaudhry reinstalled.
Musharraf brought economic prosperity and a revolution in electronic media of Pakistan by giving them maximum freedom. Now it would not be that easy to take the freedom back.
At surface, it may seem that the U.S. officials are condemning Musharraf's emergency measures but actually they have encouraged him for this move. They are happy that emergency rule is damaging Pakistan's good reputation.
The Americans do not want a genuine political process to flourish in Pakistan, something that could bring into power true leaders who will not side with the United States.
As Hamid Mir, one of the country's sharpest journalists, said Saturday that he believed the U.S. embassy in Islamabad had green-lighted Musharraf for the emergency move.
Instead of placing restrictions on media, detaining politicians, lawyers, and judges, Musharraf should rethink about his cooperation with the United States on its so-called war on terror, which is the major source of unrest in the northwest of Pakistan and the increase of religious extremism in the country.
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