11-04-2007, 11:35 AM
"PROCLAMATION OF EMERGENCY"
declared by Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf on 3 November
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7077136.stm
Whereas there is visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings, IED [improvised explosive device] explosions, rocket firing and bomb explosions and the banding together of some militant groups have taken such activities to an unprecedented level of violent intensity posing a grave threat to the life and property of the citizens of Pakistan;
Whereas there has also been a spate of attacks on state infrastructure and on law enforcement agencies;
Whereas some members of the judiciary are working at cross purposes with the executive and legislature in the fight against terrorism and extremism thereby weakening the government and the nation's resolve diluting the efficacy of its actions to control this menace;
Whereas there has been increasing interference by some members of the judiciary in government policy, adversely affecting economic growth, in particular;
Whereas constant interference in executive functions, including but not limited to the control of terrorist activity, economic policy, price controls, downsizing of corporations and urban planning, has weakened the writ of the government; the police force has been completely demoralised and is fast losing its efficacy to fight terrorism and intelligence agencies have been thwarted in their activities and prevented from pursuing terrorists;
Whereas some hard core militants, extremists, terrorists and suicide bombers, who were arrested and being investigated were ordered to be released. The persons so released have subsequently been involved in heinous terrorist activities, resulting in loss of human life and property. Militants across the country have, thus, been encouraged while law enforcement agencies subdued;
Whereas some judges by overstepping the limits of judicial authority have taken over the executive and legislative functions;
Whereas the government is committed to the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law and holds the superior judiciary in high esteem, it is nonetheless of paramount importance that the honourable judges confine the scope of their activity to the judicial function and not assume charge of administration;
Whereas an important constitutional institution, the Supreme Judicial Council, has been made entirely irrelevant and non est by a recent order and judges have, thus, made themselves immune from inquiry into their conduct and put themselves beyond accountability;
Whereas the humiliating treatment meted out to government officials by some members of the judiciary on a routine basis during court proceedings has demoralised the civil bureaucracy and senior government functionaries, to avoid being harassed, prefer inaction;
Whereas the law and order situation in the country as well as the economy have been adversely affected and trichotomy of powers eroded;
Whereas a situation has thus arisen where the government of the country cannot be carried on in accordance with the constitution and as the constitution provides no solution for this situation, there is no way out except through emergent and extraordinary measures;
And whereas the situation has been reviewed in meetings with the prime minister, governors of all four provinces and with the chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, chiefs of the armed forces, vice chief of army staff and corps commanders of the Pakistan army;
Now, therefore, in pursuance of the deliberations and decisions of the said meetings, I General Pervez Musharraf, Chief of Army Staff, proclaim emergency throughout Pakistan.
I hereby order and proclaim that the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan shall remain in abeyance.
This proclamation shall come into force at once.
PAK COURT SUSPENDS EMERGENCY ORDER
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satel...=Article_C&cid=1193049392335&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout
In an apparent reaction to the court's move, Musharraf was quick to replace Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.
Pakistan's top court Saturday, November 3, ordered the suspension of emergency rule imposed by President Pervez Musharraf, who was quick to replace the chief justice, who has been a thorn in his side, with a new one. "The emergency rule has been set aside by a seven-member bench declaring it illegal and all judges of the supreme court and high court barred from taking an oath under the new provisional constitutional order," private Geo television reported.
A government spokesman told Agence France-Presse that the Supreme Court order would not come into effect because the emergency order has a clause stating that it cannot be challenged in any court of law.
Earlier in the day, Musharraf imposed emergency rule on the country and deployed troops across the capital in a bid to reassert his flagging authority against political rivals and militants.
Musharraf has also suspended the country's 1973 constitution under the emergency rule order.
New Judge
In an apparent reaction to the court's move, Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, was quick to appoint a new chief justice.
The government replaced Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, a thorn in the government's side since Musharraf's botched bid to sack him earlier this year, with Hameed Dogar.
"Justice Hameed Dogar was administered the oath as chief justice by President Pervez Musharraf under the new provisional constitutional order," the government spokesman said.
State television said the oath-taking ceremony was conducted in the presidency.
Senior legal figures opposed the move.
"Mr Dogar cannot become the chief justice because he has a corruption reference against him," Chaudhry Ikram, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association told reporters outside the court.
"We will resist all unconstitutional steps," he said.
Musharraf suspended reformist Chaudhry in March over allegations of misconduct, sparking mass protests. The Supreme Court reinstated Chaudhry in July and he has since handed down a series of damaging judgements against the government.
Condemnations
"We are heading towards a chaotic situation," said Sharif.
Musharraf's surprise move drew fire from the opposition and his key ally the United States.
"We are heading towards a chaotic situation, heading towards anarchy," Exiled former President Nawaz Sharif told Indian news channel CNN-IBN in an interview.
Musharraf deposed Sharif in a 1999 coup and subsequently exiled him. Sharif tried to return to Pakistan, with the Supreme Court's blessing, but was put on a plane to Saudi Arabia, where he still is.
Sharif called on Musharraf to step down immediately to head off catastrophic repercussions of his decision.
"The decision to impose an emergency is unprecedented. Never in history has such treatment been meted out to judges," Sharif told private Geo television.
"Musharraf should step down today and pave the way for fair elections."
Opposition politician and former cricketer Imran Khan said Saturday that Musharraf has committed treason and should face the death penalty for declaring a state of emergency.
Khan, a World Cup-winning Pakistan cricket captain, also called on the Pakistani people to resist Musharraf's move and not to recognise the new chief justice appointed by the military ruler.
"He has committed high treason by negating the orders of the Supreme Court which bars him from taking any unconstitutional steps and by sending in troops after the Supreme Court decision," Khan told AFP.
"He is punishable by death."
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice added her condemnation of Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule.
It is "very regrettable," she said in comments broadcast on CNN.
Britain also said it is "gravely concerned" at Musharraf's move, Foreign Secretary David Miliband .
Britain recognised the threats to peace and security in Pakistan, but its future lay in "harnessing the power of democracy and the rule of law to achieve the goals of stability, development and countering terrorism"," he said.
Earlier, former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto arrived at Karachi airport from Dubai shortly after Musharraf's move, her spokesman in London told AFP.
"She's at Karachi airport. I spoke to her on the plane as it was taxiing. She doesn't know whether she will be allowed to get off, be arrested or deported," Wajid Hasan said by telephone.
A spokesman for Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Dubai, Mohammed Farooqi, also told AFP earlier that the former premier had left the United Arab Emirates for her homeland.
Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan from eight years in exile on October 18 following a reconciliation deal with Musharraf, said earlier this week she had heard speculation that the president could take such a course.
The 54-year-old warned the PPP and other opposition parties would not tolerate such a step.
Bhutto was targeted by two suicide bombers on her return to Karachi last month in an attack that killed 139 people during her homecoming parade. She said government officials were involved.
declared by Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf on 3 November
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7077136.stm
Whereas there is visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings, IED [improvised explosive device] explosions, rocket firing and bomb explosions and the banding together of some militant groups have taken such activities to an unprecedented level of violent intensity posing a grave threat to the life and property of the citizens of Pakistan;
Whereas there has also been a spate of attacks on state infrastructure and on law enforcement agencies;
Whereas some members of the judiciary are working at cross purposes with the executive and legislature in the fight against terrorism and extremism thereby weakening the government and the nation's resolve diluting the efficacy of its actions to control this menace;
Whereas there has been increasing interference by some members of the judiciary in government policy, adversely affecting economic growth, in particular;
Whereas constant interference in executive functions, including but not limited to the control of terrorist activity, economic policy, price controls, downsizing of corporations and urban planning, has weakened the writ of the government; the police force has been completely demoralised and is fast losing its efficacy to fight terrorism and intelligence agencies have been thwarted in their activities and prevented from pursuing terrorists;
Whereas some hard core militants, extremists, terrorists and suicide bombers, who were arrested and being investigated were ordered to be released. The persons so released have subsequently been involved in heinous terrorist activities, resulting in loss of human life and property. Militants across the country have, thus, been encouraged while law enforcement agencies subdued;
Whereas some judges by overstepping the limits of judicial authority have taken over the executive and legislative functions;
Whereas the government is committed to the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law and holds the superior judiciary in high esteem, it is nonetheless of paramount importance that the honourable judges confine the scope of their activity to the judicial function and not assume charge of administration;
Whereas an important constitutional institution, the Supreme Judicial Council, has been made entirely irrelevant and non est by a recent order and judges have, thus, made themselves immune from inquiry into their conduct and put themselves beyond accountability;
Whereas the humiliating treatment meted out to government officials by some members of the judiciary on a routine basis during court proceedings has demoralised the civil bureaucracy and senior government functionaries, to avoid being harassed, prefer inaction;
Whereas the law and order situation in the country as well as the economy have been adversely affected and trichotomy of powers eroded;
Whereas a situation has thus arisen where the government of the country cannot be carried on in accordance with the constitution and as the constitution provides no solution for this situation, there is no way out except through emergent and extraordinary measures;
And whereas the situation has been reviewed in meetings with the prime minister, governors of all four provinces and with the chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, chiefs of the armed forces, vice chief of army staff and corps commanders of the Pakistan army;
Now, therefore, in pursuance of the deliberations and decisions of the said meetings, I General Pervez Musharraf, Chief of Army Staff, proclaim emergency throughout Pakistan.
I hereby order and proclaim that the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan shall remain in abeyance.
This proclamation shall come into force at once.
PAK COURT SUSPENDS EMERGENCY ORDER
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satel...=Article_C&cid=1193049392335&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout
In an apparent reaction to the court's move, Musharraf was quick to replace Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.
Pakistan's top court Saturday, November 3, ordered the suspension of emergency rule imposed by President Pervez Musharraf, who was quick to replace the chief justice, who has been a thorn in his side, with a new one. "The emergency rule has been set aside by a seven-member bench declaring it illegal and all judges of the supreme court and high court barred from taking an oath under the new provisional constitutional order," private Geo television reported.
A government spokesman told Agence France-Presse that the Supreme Court order would not come into effect because the emergency order has a clause stating that it cannot be challenged in any court of law.
Earlier in the day, Musharraf imposed emergency rule on the country and deployed troops across the capital in a bid to reassert his flagging authority against political rivals and militants.
Musharraf has also suspended the country's 1973 constitution under the emergency rule order.
New Judge
In an apparent reaction to the court's move, Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, was quick to appoint a new chief justice.
The government replaced Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, a thorn in the government's side since Musharraf's botched bid to sack him earlier this year, with Hameed Dogar.
"Justice Hameed Dogar was administered the oath as chief justice by President Pervez Musharraf under the new provisional constitutional order," the government spokesman said.
State television said the oath-taking ceremony was conducted in the presidency.
Senior legal figures opposed the move.
"Mr Dogar cannot become the chief justice because he has a corruption reference against him," Chaudhry Ikram, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association told reporters outside the court.
"We will resist all unconstitutional steps," he said.
Musharraf suspended reformist Chaudhry in March over allegations of misconduct, sparking mass protests. The Supreme Court reinstated Chaudhry in July and he has since handed down a series of damaging judgements against the government.
Condemnations
"We are heading towards a chaotic situation," said Sharif.
Musharraf's surprise move drew fire from the opposition and his key ally the United States.
"We are heading towards a chaotic situation, heading towards anarchy," Exiled former President Nawaz Sharif told Indian news channel CNN-IBN in an interview.
Musharraf deposed Sharif in a 1999 coup and subsequently exiled him. Sharif tried to return to Pakistan, with the Supreme Court's blessing, but was put on a plane to Saudi Arabia, where he still is.
Sharif called on Musharraf to step down immediately to head off catastrophic repercussions of his decision.
"The decision to impose an emergency is unprecedented. Never in history has such treatment been meted out to judges," Sharif told private Geo television.
"Musharraf should step down today and pave the way for fair elections."
Opposition politician and former cricketer Imran Khan said Saturday that Musharraf has committed treason and should face the death penalty for declaring a state of emergency.
Khan, a World Cup-winning Pakistan cricket captain, also called on the Pakistani people to resist Musharraf's move and not to recognise the new chief justice appointed by the military ruler.
"He has committed high treason by negating the orders of the Supreme Court which bars him from taking any unconstitutional steps and by sending in troops after the Supreme Court decision," Khan told AFP.
"He is punishable by death."
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice added her condemnation of Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule.
It is "very regrettable," she said in comments broadcast on CNN.
Britain also said it is "gravely concerned" at Musharraf's move, Foreign Secretary David Miliband .
Britain recognised the threats to peace and security in Pakistan, but its future lay in "harnessing the power of democracy and the rule of law to achieve the goals of stability, development and countering terrorism"," he said.
Earlier, former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto arrived at Karachi airport from Dubai shortly after Musharraf's move, her spokesman in London told AFP.
"She's at Karachi airport. I spoke to her on the plane as it was taxiing. She doesn't know whether she will be allowed to get off, be arrested or deported," Wajid Hasan said by telephone.
A spokesman for Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Dubai, Mohammed Farooqi, also told AFP earlier that the former premier had left the United Arab Emirates for her homeland.
Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan from eight years in exile on October 18 following a reconciliation deal with Musharraf, said earlier this week she had heard speculation that the president could take such a course.
The 54-year-old warned the PPP and other opposition parties would not tolerate such a step.
Bhutto was targeted by two suicide bombers on her return to Karachi last month in an attack that killed 139 people during her homecoming parade. She said government officials were involved.