top
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Musharraf imposes emergency rule

by BBC (reposted)
Saturday, November 3, 2007 : Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf declares emergency rule, as police surround the Supreme Court.
Judges are believed to be inside the building in Islamabad, reports say.

Troops have been deployed inside state-run TV and radio stations, while independent channels have gone off air.

Gen Musharraf is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on whether he was eligible to run for re-election last month while remaining army chief.

Pakistan has been engulfed in political upheaval in recent months, and the security forces have suffered a series of blows from pro-Taleban militants opposed to Gen Musharraf's support for the US-led "war on terror".

The BBC's Barbara Plett reports from Islamabad that fears have been growing in the government that the Supreme Court ruling could go against Gen Musharraf.

Land and mobile telephone lines are down in Islamabad, reports say.

Private channels Geo News and Dawn News earlier quoted unnamed sources as saying the government had made up its mind to declare emergency rule. Shortly afterwards they came off air.

One TV channel reported that emergency rule may involve the suspension of the constitution.

Parliamentary elections are due in January - it is not clear whether they will go ahead.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who recently returned to the country after years of self-exile to lead her party in the elections, is currently in Dubai on a personal visit.Read More

§Emergency imposed in Pakistan
by Al Jazeera (reposted)
Saturday, November 3, 2007 : General Musharraf issues provisional constitutional order declaring emergency.

He is to address the nation later on Saturday, a presidential aide said.

Several Pakistani television channels earlier reported the move to impose emergency, before being taken off the air. Witnesses said paramilitary troops had been deployed at state-run television and radio stations.

They also reported seeing dozens of police blocking the road leading to the supreme court where judges remain inside. Residents said all telephone lines have been cut in the capital Islamabad. The Pakistani cabinet is scheduled to meet at 7.00pm (1400 GMT) and is expected to ratify Musharraf's decision. A spokesman for Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan's Peoples' Party (PPP) said the former prime minister will not return to the country from Dubai. Bhutto went to Dubai two days ago to visit her family and stayed back amid rumours that Musharraf was set to impose maritial law in Pakistan

Read More
by IOL (reposted)
ISLAMABAD — Pakistani military leader President Pervez Musharraf imposed Saturday, November 3, emergency rule on the country and deployed troops across the capital in a bid to reassert his flagging authority against political rivals and militants.

"There had been a visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks," said a provisional constitutional order issued by Musharraf explaining why he has taken such a move.

The order, a copy of which was seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP), also blamed the "interference" by Pakistan's judiciary for the imposition of emergency rule.

"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 and diluting the efficacy of its action to control this menace," the order said.

It said 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 the situation, there is no way out except through emergent and extraordinary measures."

Musharraf has also suspended the country's 1973 constitution under the emergency rule order, but the federal and provincial assemblies will still function, officials said.

The suspension of the constitution has normally been seen as an imposition of martial law during previous states of emergency in Pakistan's tumultuous history.

Elections Fate

The troops and police further surrounded the Supreme Court in Islamabad, which is due in coming days to give a verdict on the legality of Musharraf's victory in an October 6 presidential election.

More
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$80.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network