ISLAMABAD, 28 March 2007 — President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday that the government would not allow the opposition parties to politicize the issue of the suspension of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.
Speaking at a public meeting at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi, the president denied that the government was behind the disappearance of hundreds of people who rights groups say vanished after being taken into custody.
The president told the rally of thousands of supporters they should vote for candidates of the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) in elections at the end of the year.
Speaking a day after opposition parties held their first joint protests across the country to demand the reinstatement of the country’s top judge, Musharraf said the opposition should not politicize the case.
Musharraf said Chaudhry’s case would be decided by a panel of judges and should not be used to create chaos. Chaudhry is due to make his first public comments on his case in an address to lawyers in Rawalpindi today.
The president told the rally of flag-waving supporters his government had empowered women, minorities and the media and brought strong economic growth.
“We introduced true democracy. It’s the first time that Parliament is completing its tenure,” Musharraf said.
He said “some elements” did not want the assembly to complete its five-year term in mid-November. He said last week that the elections would be held on time and he would not impose an emergency as a way out of the judicial crisis.
Musharraf said the government was being maligned over the issue of disappearances. “The government is not involved. We don’t indulge in such activities,” he said.
While the president was addressing the rally, a woman tried to approach the dais. Security guards tried to stop her but Musharraf asked them to allow her to come. The woman threw herself at the feet of Musharraf and begged him to find a missing relative. “This lady came to me and apparently she is also facing the same problem, there is someone missing and I promise her that I will make every effort to trace him,” Musharraf told the rally.
At least 400 people have disappeared after being detained since Pakistan joined the US-led war on terrorism in 2001, the country’s top human rights group says. Most were suspected of links with extremists or separatist rebels.
The suspended head of the Supreme Court took up the issue last year and some analysts thought his call to the government to account for the missing might have been a reason behind the move against him.
Musharraf said militant groups were recruiting people for suicide attacks and the missing might have joined their ranks. “These people may have gone on their own ... to Kashmir, Afghanistan or Iraq. I don’t know,” he said.
PIA Chairman Resigns
The chairman of Pakistan’s national airline has resigned, officials said yesterday, following a European Union safety ban imposed on most of its ageing fleet.
Tariq Kirmani, the chief of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), had also been under pressure due to the state-owned carrier’s mounting losses.
“Pakistan International Airlines Chairman Tariq Kirmani has resigned and so far there is no replacement,” a PIA spokesman told AFP.
The EU said earlier this month that it would allow only PIA’s eight Boeing 777 planes to fly to Europe. Its other 37 aircraft, mainly older Boeing 747s and Airbus A310s, were put on the EU blacklist due to safety concerns.
Last week, PIA engineers went on strike following a row with the management resulting in cancellation of several flights from Karachi. The engineers later ended their strike.
