Musharraf's chief critic silenced as lawyers continue protests
Zahid Hussain in Islamabad and Jeremy Page in Karachi Times Online November 6, 2007
A call to protest by the chief critic of the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, was cut short today when the Government shut down parts of the mobile telephone network in the capital.
Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhury, the dismissed Chief Justice of Pakistan, who is now under house arrest in Islamabad, used a telephone conference this morning to urge lawyers to demonstrate against the state of emergency imposed by General Musharraf on Saturday. Mr Chaudhury, a figurehead for the opposition, made the call as the Government met to discuss a schedule for parliamentary elections amid mounting international pressure to lift the emergency.
"I want lawyers to spread my message: the time for sacrifice has come and to stand up for the constitution," he said to cheers from supporters. "There will be no dictatorship." Lawyers outside his home shouted: “Musharraf is a criminal — we will not accept uniforms or bullets!” The teleconference was cut off after two minutes when the mobile network went dead, but the move failed to prevent lawyers from demonstrating for a second day in several cities. The worst unrest was in the central city of Multan, where police used batons to disperse about 1,000 lawyers as they tried to leave a court complex to start a street rally.
Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister, was flying from Karachi to Islamabad this afternoon for a meeting with other opposition leaders to discuss whether to join the lawyers’ protests. The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy will meet tomorrow morning ahead of a planned rally by Ms Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party in the city of Rawalpindi, next to Islamabad.
Analysts say that General Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, now has little room to manoeuvre as he has lost the support of moderate and Islamist Pakistanis alike - as well as many in the international community. But he is still showing no signs of bowing to the domestic and international pressure to lift the emergency, which has banned public meetings and taken private television networks off the air.
The Government today backed away from comments from the Attorney-General yesterday suggesting that a decision had been made to hold elections, as originally planned, by January 15. Instead, it said it was meeting to discuss the election timetable, repeating General Musharraf’s pledge to stick as closely as possible to the original schedule. The Government also dismissed international criticism of the emergency, urging its Western allies to be patient.
President Bush led international calls yesterday for General Musharraf to release hundreds of opposition activists, step down as army chief and hold elections as originally scheduled. General Musharraf told foreign ambassadors that he imposed the emergency to stop the judiciary and media impeding his campaign against Islamist militants.
The General has deployed more than 90,000 troops to help fight to al-Qaeda and Taleban militants in northwestern Pakistan since allying himself with the United States after the 9/11 attacks. Pakistan's Interior Ministry said that a record 667 people had been killed and 2,000 injured in "terrorist" attacks this year, including an unprecedented 43 suicide bombings.
Mr Chaudhury, however, said that General Musharraf imposed the emergency because it feared an imminent Supreme Court ruling on the legality of his victory in an October 6 presidential election.
General Musharraf tried to dismiss Mr Chaudhury in March, fearing that the independent-minded judge could thwart his re-election plans, but was forced to re-instate him in July after massive protests by lawyers. Mr Chaudhury was dismissed again on Saturday, along with eight other judges, for refusing to endorse the emergency. The others are also under house arrest, some of them locked inside their own homes.
Zahid Hussain in Islamabad and Jeremy Page in Karachi Times Online November 6, 2007
A call to protest by the chief critic of the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, was cut short today when the Government shut down parts of the mobile telephone network in the capital.
Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhury, the dismissed Chief Justice of Pakistan, who is now under house arrest in Islamabad, used a telephone conference this morning to urge lawyers to demonstrate against the state of emergency imposed by General Musharraf on Saturday. Mr Chaudhury, a figurehead for the opposition, made the call as the Government met to discuss a schedule for parliamentary elections amid mounting international pressure to lift the emergency.
"I want lawyers to spread my message: the time for sacrifice has come and to stand up for the constitution," he said to cheers from supporters. "There will be no dictatorship." Lawyers outside his home shouted: “Musharraf is a criminal — we will not accept uniforms or bullets!” The teleconference was cut off after two minutes when the mobile network went dead, but the move failed to prevent lawyers from demonstrating for a second day in several cities. The worst unrest was in the central city of Multan, where police used batons to disperse about 1,000 lawyers as they tried to leave a court complex to start a street rally.
Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister, was flying from Karachi to Islamabad this afternoon for a meeting with other opposition leaders to discuss whether to join the lawyers’ protests. The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy will meet tomorrow morning ahead of a planned rally by Ms Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party in the city of Rawalpindi, next to Islamabad.
Analysts say that General Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, now has little room to manoeuvre as he has lost the support of moderate and Islamist Pakistanis alike - as well as many in the international community. But he is still showing no signs of bowing to the domestic and international pressure to lift the emergency, which has banned public meetings and taken private television networks off the air.
The Government today backed away from comments from the Attorney-General yesterday suggesting that a decision had been made to hold elections, as originally planned, by January 15. Instead, it said it was meeting to discuss the election timetable, repeating General Musharraf’s pledge to stick as closely as possible to the original schedule. The Government also dismissed international criticism of the emergency, urging its Western allies to be patient.
President Bush led international calls yesterday for General Musharraf to release hundreds of opposition activists, step down as army chief and hold elections as originally scheduled. General Musharraf told foreign ambassadors that he imposed the emergency to stop the judiciary and media impeding his campaign against Islamist militants.
The General has deployed more than 90,000 troops to help fight to al-Qaeda and Taleban militants in northwestern Pakistan since allying himself with the United States after the 9/11 attacks. Pakistan's Interior Ministry said that a record 667 people had been killed and 2,000 injured in "terrorist" attacks this year, including an unprecedented 43 suicide bombings.
Mr Chaudhury, however, said that General Musharraf imposed the emergency because it feared an imminent Supreme Court ruling on the legality of his victory in an October 6 presidential election.
General Musharraf tried to dismiss Mr Chaudhury in March, fearing that the independent-minded judge could thwart his re-election plans, but was forced to re-instate him in July after massive protests by lawyers. Mr Chaudhury was dismissed again on Saturday, along with eight other judges, for refusing to endorse the emergency. The others are also under house arrest, some of them locked inside their own homes.
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