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State of Emergency

Declared, somewhat belatedly.  Pakistan has been in a state of emergency(ies) for a long time, and whatever else it has been, Musharraf’s dictatorship is, was, and has been a response to that.  Here’s the latest. NYT:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sunday, Nov. 4 — The Pakistani leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, declared a state of emergency on Saturday night, suspending the country’s Constitution, firing the chief justice of the Supreme Court and filling the streets of this capital city with police officers.

The move appeared to be an effort by General Musharraf to reassert his fading power in the face of growing opposition from the country’s Supreme Court, political parties and hard-line Islamists. Pakistan’s Supreme Court had been expected to rule within days on the legality of General Musharraf’s re-election last month as the country’s president.

The emergency act, which analysts and opposition leaders said was more a declaration of martial law, also boldly defied the Bush administration, which had repeatedly urged General Musharraf to avoid such a path and instead move toward democracy. Washington has generously backed the general, sending him more than $10 billion in aid since 2001, mostly for the military. Now the administration finds itself in the bind of having to publicly castigate the man it has described as one of its closest allies in fighting terrorism.

In blunt and brief comments on Saturday, American officials condemned General Musharraf’s move. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded a “quick return to constitutional law.” And in Washington, the White House spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, said, “This action is very disappointing,” and he called on General Musharraf to honor his earlier pledge to resign as army commander and hold nationwide elections before Jan. 15.

 As Counterterrorism Blog notes in detail, Pakistan is in fact in a state of emergency, with its army and police engaged with the Taliban and their fellow travellers, not always winning, and widespread Islamist sympathy that raises questions of what elections would produce. Enlightened pro-American Bhutto ascendancy? NYT isn’t really addressing that issue.

In Pakistan, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the main opposition leader, returned early from a visit in Dubai, setting up the possibility that she and her party, as well as other opposition groups like the powerful lawyers’ body here, could organize demonstrations against the president. After landing in Karachi, she mocked General Musharraf and accused him of using the specter of terrorism to prolong his hold on power. “This is not emergency,” she said. “This is martial law.”

…

If Ms. Bhutto’s party and other opposition groups are able to mount nationwide street protests, the general could be forced from power. In the past, Pakistan’s army has ousted military leaders when they felt their actions were damaging to the army as an institution.

Pakistan is a complicated place.

Today’s updates: Things may have just got (even) more interesting.

Topics: Pakistan

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:56 am on Sunday, November 4, 2007

4 Responses to “State of Emergency”

1. RebeccaH Says:
   November 4th, 2007 at 10:42 am

   This is bad.

2. PoliBlog ™: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts » Musharraf’s Consolidate Power to Fight Communists Terrorists Says:
   November 4th, 2007 at 11:47 am

   […] to an odd binary choice: Musharraf stays in power and does what he wants or its Shariaville). Jules Crittendon similarly casts the whole thing as being solely about the fight against extremism. Stop the ACLU […]

3. saltydog Says:
   November 4th, 2007 at 5:20 pm

   Yes, this is bad. And completely predictable.

   Once again, the Bush administration is pushing for democracy for democracy’s sake, while ignoring what is required for its success. We learn nothing.

4. Blue Star Chronicles Says:
   November 4th, 2007 at 10:28 pm

   Trouble in Pakistan

   The situation in Pakistan is very unsettling. President Pervez Musharraf is caught between a rock and a hard place and is holding onto power by the end of his fingernails.

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