ISLAMABAD, 3 November 2007 — Pakistan’s attorney general said yesterday that President Pervez Musharraf does not intend to impose a state of emergency or martial law, despite a spiraling political crisis and violence.
Most local dailies said yesterday that the government was poised to take extraconstitutional measures, while former Premier Benazir Bhutto said on Wednesday that she was concerned by rumors about such a step.
Ministers have previously warned that it is a possibility if the Supreme Court overturns Musharraf’s victory in the Oct. 6 presidential vote in a judgment expected in the next two weeks.
But Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum — who is leading the government’s case against the legal challenges to Musharraf’s re-election — told the top court yesterday there were no such plans.
“Who is saying that martial law is going to be imposed? Martial law will not be imposed, not be imposed, not be imposed,” the attorney general told the Supreme Court.
Asked later by an anti-government lawyer about a state of emergency, he replied: “I have been meeting with the president but I have not found any such intention.” Three ministers — Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, Dr. Sher Afgan Niazi and Tariq Azeem — told TV channels there was no plan to impose martial law or emergency.
Rashid however told ARYONE television channel martial law never needs invitation, but “I do not think martial law is an option worth considering. We will fight out political and legal matters,” he said.
Musharraf nearly imposed an emergency in August amid a wave of attacks following the storming of the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad and a bruising showdown with the country’s chief justice.
But there are signs his patience has worn thin again, with the threat of the Supreme Court ruling his election to another five-year term invalid and a series of other cases that could damage the government.
The Supreme Court said yesterday it would now hear the election case again on Monday and Tuesday next week — a day after saying it would not sit at all next week — in a bid to finish by Nov. 15, when Musharraf’s term as army chief ends. The court’s dallying had been a factor fuelling rumors Musharraf could invoke emergency powers and call off a vote due in January.
“The court will not take any blame for the controversy being created,” said Justice Javed Iqbal, head of the 11-member bench hearing the objections to Musharraf contesting the presidency while still army chief.
As proceedings were wrapped up yesterday, Iqbal said efforts would be made “to conclude the case in the shortest possible time.” He indicated that the verdict may be announced as early as Tuesday.
Iqbal reiterated that the court would not be swayed by threats.
“We will decide this case in accordance with law and constitution... the court cannot be influenced by the threat of martial law or extraconstitutional measures,” he said.
