Pakistanis Continue their Defiance of the Musharraf's Absolute Rule, Despite the Bush Support for the Puppet Dictator

Dawn, November 07, 2007 Wednesday Shawwal 25, 1428

Musharraf won’t be abandoned, says White House

By Our Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Nov 6, 2007,

The White House has made it clear that it is not willing to abandon President Pervez Musharraf but it does expect some clarification from him later this week about his decision to impose an emergency rule in Pakistan.

At a background briefing on Monday evening, a senior White House official told reporters that while the United States wants to use its influence to restore democracy, it will be careful about using sanctions because it may send a wrong signal to the Pakistani people.

“Look, on our judgment, President Musharraf, you know -- who is the leader of his country -- but in our judgment, he’s made a mistake,” the official said. “And the question is what do you do when someone makes a mistake that is a close ally?” he asked.

“You know, do you cut him off, hit him with sanctions, and walk out the door? Or do you try and see if you can work with them to get them back on track? And President Bush’s guidance to us is: see if we can work with them to get back on track.”

Asked if the White House was expecting a direct clarification from President Musharraf, the official said: “The clarification needs to come from the Pakistani government to their people. And, obviously, what the Pakistani people are going to want to look for at some point is, what the intention of their President is.”

The official recalled that in the 1990s, the United States had imposed sweeping sanctions on Pakistan, which disillusioned the Pakistani people.

He said that since Sept 11, 2001, when Pakistan joined the US-led war against terror, “one of the questions they have had is whether the United States was prepared to stand with the government and the Pakistani people through ups and downs, or whether at the moment something happened that we didn’t like, we would cut off the aid.”

The official added: “So this issue about the aid and assistance has a real resonance to them and that’s why it’s a card that has to be played fairly carefully.”

The official, however, said that in the 1990s, the United States had very little influence on Pakistan while now the situation was different and Washington could use its influence to persuade Islamabad to reconsider its decision.

The United States, he said, wants to use “carrots and sticks” it has to try and get the Pakistan government to move to back to a constitutional path.

The official, however, conceded that the declaration of emergency in Pakistan will also cause concerns on Capitol Hill and the US administration will have to see if there’re sanctions -- mandated by pro-democracy laws -- that need to be used against Pakistan.

“What we think we ought to be doing is using our various forms of influence at this point in time to help a friend, who we think has done something ill-advised,” the official said.

Asked if there would be consequences for Gen Musharraf’s action, the official said: “That’s going to depend heavily on what we hear, obviously, from the Pakistani government,” making sure to add: “And that is not a threat in any way.”

The official said it was difficult to say if the current crisis had weakened Gen Musharraf. “We are concerned about it; … but I think, you know, you don’t really know. And what you need to do is have a set of principles and have a set of policies that advance our interests, and then work with a strategy to try and achieve them. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”

The official also refused to say if President Bush regrets supporting Gen Musharraf and if the emergency was a setback to Mr Bush’s freedom agenda.

“We don’t know, because we don’t know how this story comes out,” the official said.

“It is important to both Pakistan and the United States to retain that partnership. But we also think it’s important for Pakistan to move on the democratic track. … I think it’s too soon to say. We’re in the opening days of this crisis.”

NANCY PELOSI: Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in a statement blamed the Bush administration for sacrificing democracy in Pakistan in order to fight terrorism.

Ms Pelosi said that the Bush administration enabled President Pervez Musharraf’s “delusion” by ignoring his undemocratic acts.

“For too long, President Musharraf failed to confront effectively his growing unpopularity,” she said.

“The Bush Administration enabled Musharraf’s delusion by ignoring his undemocratic acts and lack of internal support in exchange for his assistance in efforts against terrorism.” Ms Pelosi said that Pakistan would only be a reliable and capable ally against terrorism when its government was not seen as an enemy by its own people.

SHEILA JACKSON LEE: Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Co-Chair of the Congressional Pakistan Caucus, called for sending a special US envoy to Pakistan for talks with the Musharraf government for lifting the state of emergency.

Representatives from the departments of State and Defence should also accompany this envoy, she told a news conference in Washington.

HILLARY CLINTON: Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton has called on President General Pervez Musharraf “to cancel the state of emergency, restore the Constitution, release arrested opposition leaders, and hold free and fair elections on schedule”, adds Masood Haider from New York.

OBAMA: Senator Barack Obama condemned Gen Musharraf’s action and asserted “the United States must be clear and unequivocal: President Musharraf should reverse this declaration, respect the decision of the Supreme Court, and hold free and fair elections for parliament in January.

Iftikhar urges uprising to save Constitution

By Iftikhar A. Khan

Dawn, ISLAMABAD, Nov 6, 2007

Deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry urged the nation on Tuesday to rise up for the restoration of the Constitution. He dismissed the proclamation of emergency as illegal.

“The Constitution has been ripped to shreds,” he said while addressing a rally of lawyers by telephone from his besieged residence where he has been detained.

The lawyers were protesting against the imposition of emergency and removal of the chief justice and several other judges of the superior judiciary through the Provisional Constitutional Order.

Justice Iftikhar asked the lawyers to spread his message to the people all over the country: “The time has come for sacrifice and for rising up for the supremacy of the Constitution”.

He declared that he was determined to launch another phase of struggle for the independence of judiciary, rule of law and the Constitution.

He said he would speak to the legal fraternity once restrictions on his movement were relaxed. “I am under arrest now, but soon I will join you in your struggle,” he said.

Justice Iftikhar said he was confident the day would come when the country would see the supremacy of the Constitution and that there would be no dictatorship.

He described as unfounded President General Pervez Musharraf’s allegation that the judiciary was going soft on terrorists. He pointed out that the court had provided relief to the people and restored their faith in the judicial system.

Before Justice Iftikhar could complete his address, the line that he was speaking over was cut and mobile phones in some parts of Islamabad went dead.

Hundreds of lawyers protested inside the city court complex after listening to Justice Iftikhar. They made no attempt to break through the police cordon deployed to prevent them from holding street protests.

The lawyers condemned the imposition of emergency which they said was an attempt by General Musharraf to prolong his rule. After chanting anti-Musharraf slogans for about half an hour, the demonstrators dispersed peacefully.

Benazir calls for street protests

By Amir Wasim

Dawn, ISLAMABAD, Nov 6, 2007

Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto on Tuesday called upon the people to come out on streets for the restoration of democracy.

“I appeal to the nation to join the protest (against the imposition of emergency) and show their power. When people will come out, pressure will mount. The people will have to fight for the restoration of the Constitution and democracy and to save the country,” Ms Bhutto told reporters at her residence here after arrival from Karachi.

She said her Nov 9 public meeting at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi would now be a show of protest, and not part of the election campaign as announced earlier.

The PPP chairperson said her party would not attend the National Assembly session on Wednesday as she believed the present assemblies were only there to strengthen dictatorship. Instead, she said, her party leaders and activists would hold a demonstration outside the parliament house soon after the start of the assembly session.

She criticised the government for arresting Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and other judges, recalling that it was the second time during Gen Musharraf’s rule that judges had been expelled. She claimed that more than 50 per cent of the arrested lawyers belonged to the PPP.

In reply to a question, Ms Bhutto said talks with Gen Musharraf were only aimed at the restoration of democracy. She termed the election of Gen Musharraf “illegal” and said she had advised him not to seek re-election from the present assemblies, but he had put the nation and himself into a blind alley.

“We were deliberately put into a blind alley,” she said. She termed reports of a meeting with Gen Musharraf as part of a “disinformation campaign.”

The PPP chairperson said she was grateful to the international community for opposing the imposition of emergency and thus supporting the people of Pakistan and not an individual. She condemned the curbs on media and called for an immediate lifting of the emergency.

In reply to a question about her relationship with the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), she referred to her recent meeting with Senator Ishaq Dar in Dubai and said she had been waiting for a response from the PML (N).

She said she was also in contact with other opposition parties to prepare a joint strategy to resist the emergency and hoped the PML-N would soon rejoin the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy.

In response to a question, Ms Bhutto said she had invited the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal to join the protest against the emergency to prove that the MMA wanted restoration of the Constitution and elections in time.

The PPP chairperson, who is expected to stay in the capital for five days, will preside over a meeting of the ARD at her party’s central secretariat on Wednesday morning.

A PPP source told Dawn Ms Bhutto would meet heads of all foreign missions based in Islamabad. He said her party’s foreign liaison committee had arranged a reception for the high commissioners and ambassadors of 75 countries at the parliament house on Nov 10 during which Ms Bhutto would apprise the diplomats about her party’s position on the current situation.

Meanwhile, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said that British Foreign Secretary David Miliband telephoned Ms Bhutto on Monday and discussed the prevailing political situation in Pakistan.

‘Martial law imposed in garb of emergency’

By Muhammad Faisal Ali

LAHORE, Nov 6, 2007

The director of the Human Rights Commission said on Tuesday that President Gen Pervez Musharraf had imposed martial law disguised as emergency.

“We are witnessing martial law under the garb of emergency. It will be harmful for the country and its citizens.”

I.A. Rahman criticised the abridgement of the judiciary’s powers and the high-handedness against lawyers.

“It is not good to curtail the powers of the judiciary and thrash the lawyers for raising voice for supremacy of judiciary and the rule of law,” Mr Rahman told Dawn outside the house of HRCP chairperson Asma Jehangir.

He said there was a need to strengthen civil society, urging the government to enlist the help of law-abiding citizens in efforts to tackle outlaws.

He deplored the police action against an indoor meeting on Saturday after the imposition of emergency.

Mr Rahman, who was among the participants, said the police had taken 54 people into custody without showing any papers.

“We were about to leave the HRCP office at the Aiwan-i-Jamhoor after attending the meeting when the police staged the whole drama,” he said.

“Without showing any detention orders and telling us about the reason of the arrest, we were kept at Model Town police station the whole day. Later we were shifted to private residences in Gulberg. This was nothing but illegal detention,” Mr Rahman said.

The very next day, an FIR was lodged against the arrested people and they were produced before a magistrate. He issued a judicial remand, declared three houses as sub-jails and ordered the police to shift the detainees to a better place.

The HRCP director said he had failed to understand the reasons behind The detention.

“The government first violates the law and then finds excuses to justify it. It is easy to register the case but it is difficult to prove the allegations,” Mr Rahman said about the police raid at the meeting.

He said all citizens had a ‘democratic right’ to comment on and discuss political issues, including emergency.

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