The political crisis in Pakistan deepened last night as President Musharraf was poised to impose a state of emergency, a move that would grant him sweeping powers.

First indications of the clampdown came when General Musharraf cancelled a visit to Kabul, where he was due to address a joint jirga (council) of Pakistani and Afghan tribal elders. Officials denied reports that the President had decided to declare a state of emergency, but other sources said that an announcement was imminent.

General Musharraf has convened a meeting today of Cabinet ministers, the Attorney-General and leaders of the ruling party to finalise his plans.

“These are only unconfirmed reports, although the possibility of imposing emergency cannot be ruled out and has recently been discussed, keeping in mind some external and internal threats and the law-and-order situation,” Tariq Azim Khan, the Deputy Information Minister, said.

Emergency rule would allow General Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, to extend the tenure of the national and provincial assemblies by 12 months and to delay elections that are due at the end of the year.

The Government could explain such a step by citing a recent spate of suicide attacks across the country and the growing security threat posed by Islamist militants allied to the Taleban and al-Qaeda.

The reports of impending emergency rule emerged a day after General Musharraf declared that he would seek election by the current parliament for another five-year term before October 15. He also made his intention clear that he would not step down as army chief, as demanded by the Opposition. The emergency measure, expected to be announced today, would lead to the suspension of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution and curtail the powers of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court was about to act on a constitutional petition challenging the decision by General Musharraf to continue holding the offices of both president and army chief. He suffered a huge blow to his credibility last month when the Supreme Court declared as illegal his decision to suspend the Chief Justice. Last week the court also ordered the release of Javed Hashmi, a prominent opposition leader, who had spent three years in prison on sedition charges.

Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister, who struck a power-sharing deal with General Musharraf last month, has said that emergency rule would be disastrous for the country.

Under Pakistan’s Constitution, the head of state_ may declare a state of emergency if it is deemed that the country’s security is “threatened by war or external aggression, or by internal disturbance beyond” the Government’s authority to control. If a state of emergency is to be extended beyond two months, it must be approved by a joint session of parliament.

Descent into chaos

July 4 A suicide car bomber attacks a Pakistani military convoy in the tribal region of North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan, killing 11 people
July 6 Gunmen fire at President Musharraf’s plane as it takes off from a military airfield near Islamabad in what officials say is an assassination attempt
July 10-11 Pakistan’s army raids the Red Mosque. Authorities say that the operation killed 11 troops and at least 75 of those inside
July 15 At least 26 police officials and recruits die in a suicide attack on a recruitment centre in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan. Pro-Taliban militants in North Waziristan rip up a ten-month-old peace accord with the Government
August 4 Militants detonate a car bomb at a busy bus station in Parachinar, northwestern Pakistan, killing nine people. Elsewhere in the region, four soldiers and ten militants are killed during a checkpoint shootout

*Source: AFP

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