Musharraf's Govt hammers out timeline for elections
PAKISTAN, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government called a
meeting Tuesday to discuss a timetable for parliamentary elections, as
the U.S. and other Western allies stepped up pressure on the army chief
to return to a path of democracy.
Some nations they were reviewing aid to the Muslim nation.
Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, declared a state of
emergency and suspended the constitution Saturday ahead of a Supreme
Court ruling on whether his recent re-election as president was legal.
He ousted independent-minded judges, put a stranglehold on the media and
granted sweeping powers to authorities to crush dissent.
Opposition groups put the number of arrests at more than 3,500,
although the government reported half that.
U.S. President George W. Bush urged Musharraf - who has been rewarded
for his support for the U.S.-led terror-fight with billions of dollars
in aid - to hold parliamentary elections in January as originally
planned.
But there did not appear to be a unified position among senior
government officials on when polls would be held, with some maintaining
they could be pushed back by up to a year. The attorney general said
Monday the vote would take place as scheduled, but later conceded there
was a chance of a delay.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said he would chair a Cabinet meeting
later Tuesday to try to hammer out a timeline, but stressed that an
agreement still needed to be reached on how to hold elections "in a
smooth, transparent and peaceful manner."
Thousands have turned out to protest the state of emergency, but
demonstrations so far have been limited largely to opposition activists,
rights workers and lawyers. There does not appear to be a groundswell of
popular resistance and all the rallies have been quickly and sometimes
brutally stamped out.
Hundreds of lawyers, angered by Musharraf's attacks on the judiciary,
defied a stepped-up security presence Tuesday and demonstrated again,
some chanting "Musharraf Go!" as they wound through the narrow streets
of the capital, Islamabad.
Others yelled "Musharraf is a criminal - we will not accept uniforms
or bullets!" and "Traitor!"
Many see Musharraf's decision to impose emergency rule as a
last-ditch attempt to cling to power.
Musharraf's leadership is threatened by the Islamic militant movement
that has spread from border regions to the capital, the reemergence of
political rival and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and an
increasingly defiant Supreme Court, which has been purged in the last
two days.
Musharraf told foreign ambassadors at his official residence Monday
that the country of 160 million Muslims remained committed to completing
its transition to democracy. His nation has been under military rule for
much of its 60-year history.
"I am determined to remove my uniform once we correct these pillars -
the judiciary, the executive, and the parliament," Musharraf was quoted
by state-run Pakistan Television as saying.
Lawyers - the driving force behind protests earlier this year when
Musharraf tried unsuccessfully to fire independent-minded Chief Justice
Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry - tried to stage rallies in major cities
Monday, but were beaten and arrested.
Chaudhry was removed from his post on Saturday, just as the Supreme
Court was preparing to rule on the validity of Musharraf's Oct. 6
re-election. Opponents say he should be disqualified because he
contested the vote as army chief.
Chaudhry described the emergency declaration as a "naked attack" on
the rule of law and said in a written statement that he was locked in
his residence under virtual house arrest.
Islamabad, Tuesday, AP
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