Folks - with a sad heart I report to you that the Dictator Musharraf has done what civilized and democracy supporters feared for a while. He has declared "emergency" which in reality is Martial Law. Army is lying in wait, and the Chief Justice has been sacked yet again, and the courageous man has again refused to resign. But of course the Judges of the Supreme court have been detained while the the Dictator is trying to pack the court with his cronies. Musharraf has done away with the 1973 constitution and again forcing the judges to take fresh oaths under his new "Provisional Constitutional Order" (PCO) - why is this being done you ask? well the Supreme Court of Pakistan was considering petitions against the Candidacy of Musharraf as being the Chief of Military and running for President, the verdict was expected next week. Musharrf is not only the biggest coward Pakistan has every produced, he is also a Bully par excellence. Though US has condemned the imposition of emergency in Pakistan, its a general view that this could not have happened without the consent of the White House. Currently, prominent lawyers and politicians are being arrested and Muhssarf has ordered the Cable news and Cell phone services being discontinued throughout the country. I will keep updating as things unravel.
Musharraf just gave a speech on state run PakistanTV and aimed a chunk of his speech directly towards the Western audience. He also quoted Abe Lincoln to prove his point that he is trampling the constitution to save the republic..(of course all facts point to him doing it to save his own behind)also someone please tell him that at least Abe was elected -
He bemoaned the fact that the Supreme Court was taking Suo Moto action against Agencies and Police (because people were complaining), he also said that the Media had gotten out of hand with its "negativism", and was not helping the issue..(the new PCO contains a provision banning defaming the President himself). Musharraf just went from being the biggest coward produced by Pakistan to being its biggest Drama Queen.
Meanwhile, BB is back in Karachi and finally gave a statement against the imposition of Martial Law, also Nawaz Sharif said he has intensified his efforts to get back into the country - neither of them said what the next step should be.
Also Pakistan's geninue hero the Chief Justice (the real one) Iftikhar Ahmed Chaudhry has said that he will be starting a hearing come Monday mornining on the Martial Law issue - ignoring the fact he is currently under house arrest along with other Supreme Court Justices.
Sounds like Pakistan is about to get its own version of the Tennis Court Oath....this is the best chance for Pakistan to get rid of Dictators once and for all. A lot of other leaders are being picked up in police raids. The coward Musharraf has little integrity and no cajones to stand up against the 90,000 (yes JUST 90,000) strong Lawyer Community, he has to arrest its leaders.
Here is a good link for you all you Pakistan Policy Wonks.
http://pakistanpolicy.com/