Watch video:Pakistan`s Musharraf declares emergency rule
COMMONWEALTH STATEMENT ON PAKISTAN:
Commonwealth expresses grave concern at State of Emergency in PakistanCommonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon has expressed grave concern at the declaration by General Pervez Musharraf of a State of Emergency in Pakistan.“The suspension of the country’s Constitution days before the Supreme Court was due to pass judgement on General Musharraf’s re-election as President is a matter of deep concern to the Commonwealth. It is a step in the wrong direction and a serious setback to democracy,” Mr McKinnon said.The Secretary-General said the challenges facing Pakistan at present were widely acknowledged, but suspending constitutional rule and taking arbitrary action against the judiciary were not the answer. “It is essential that the Constitution and the rule of law be restored and the judiciary respected. The Commonwealth also expects that the elections due to be held in January 2008 will not be postponed and that President Musharraf will abide by his undertaking to relinquish his military office before taking the oath as President for a second term.Mr McKinnon said that he would consult with the Chairman of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group about the latest developments. The Group has been regularly engaged with the situation in Pakistan.Pakistan will also be on the agenda of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda later this month.Note to EditorsPakistan was suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth in October 1999 and restored to full membership in May 2004. However, it has since remained on the agenda of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which was established by Commonwealth Heads of Government in November 1995 to deal with serious or persistent violations of the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values.The Group is convened by the Secretary-General and is composed of the Foreign Ministers of nine Commonwealth member countries. It currently includes the Foreign Ministers of Canada, Lesotho, Malaysia, Malta, Papua New Guinea, St Lucia, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom and United Republic of Tanzania.At their meeting in Malta in 2005, Commonwealth Heads of Government noted that the holding by the same person of the offices of Head of State and Chief of Army Staff is incompatible with the basic principles of democracy and the spirit of the Harare Commonwealth principles. They reiterated that until the two offices are separated, the process of democratisation in Pakistan will not be irreversible.CMAG will report to Heads of Government on Pakistan at the forthcoming CHOGM in Uganda (23-25 November 2007) and Commonwealth leaders are expected to address the issue thereafter
Tension heightens in Pakistan
General Musharraf has suspended Pakistan's constitution and ordered the arrest of opposition activists after imposing emergency rule. Authorities were rounding up opposition activists Sunday after Gen. Pervez Musharraf suspended Pakistan's constitution, declaring rising Islamic extremism forced him to take emergency measures that included replacing the nation's chief judge and blacking out the independent media that refused to support him. Police arrested the Javed Hashmi, the acting president of the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, along with 10 aides when he stepped outside his house in the central city of Multan. Police also arrested six lawyers, including the secretary of the Multan High Court Bar Association, AP reported. In Islamabad, phone service that had been cut when the state of emergency was declared on Saturday evening appeared to have been restored by Sunday morning. But transmissions by TV news networks remained off the air in major cities other than state-controlled Pakistan TV. Scores of paramilitary troops at barbed wire barricades blocked access to the Supreme Court and parliament. Otherwise the streets of the capital appeared calm. In a televised address, Musharraf, looking somber and composed, said Pakistan was at a "dangerous" juncture, its government threatened by Islamic extremists. Musharraf on Saturday replaced the chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, who had emerged as the main check on the president. Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general and respected analyst, said the emergency declaration was a pre-emptive move in case the court ruled against Musharraf. Eight of the 17 Supreme Court judges immediately rejected the emergency order, which suspended the current constitution. Police blocked entry to the Supreme Court building and later took the deposed chief justice and other judges away in a convoy, witnesses said. MSM/BGH
