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Refusal to set date for ending Emergency adds to uncertainty

ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf’s announcement of a date for elections on schedule has allayed some fears about the unfolding political scene in Pakistan, but his refusal to set a date for ending the Emergency has added to the prevailing uncertainty.

The former Prime Minister and Pakistan People’s Party leader, Benazir Bhutto, said the announcement of a time-frame for the holding of elections was a positive sign, but said it was not enough to defuse the crisis.

Ms. Bhutto, who arrived in Lahore on Sunday afternoon to prepare for Tuesday’s planned “long march” to Islamabad, said Gen. Musharraf was sending conflicting signals, and that free and fair elections in the presence of an Emergency would be “difficult.”

She also criticised amendments to the Army Act that allowed court-martialling of civilians, and said this too would hinder the holding of transparent elections.

Another former Prime Minister, Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Nawaz Sharif, was more scathing. He denounced the announcement as a “conspiracy to rig the elections” in favour of the ruling faction of the Pakistan Muslim League.

Speaking to Dawn News from Jeddah, Mr. Sharif said he had no confidence in the announcement of the election date as there was no independent judiciary in the country, and Gen. Musharraf had not said when he would lift the Emergency, or when he would step down as army chief.

The exiled leader said it was time for all Opposition parties to come together to decide on a course of action.

While Ms. Bhutto has also indicated that she is prepared for talks with other Opposition parties, the PPP leader, who was in talks with Gen. Musharraf before her arrival in Pakistan for a power-sharing deal, said in Lahore she had not closed the door yet to negotiations with him in the interests of avoiding “a mess” and turmoil in the country.

But at his press conference, in an apparent reaction to her new defiance of the regime in recent days and in an indication of their differences, Gen. Musharraf was almost dismissive and disparaging about Ms. Bhutto’s standing in Pakistan, and said she hardly enjoyed any support among the people of Pakistan.

He dismissed reports that she was the next Prime Minister-in-waiting, and said this would be decided after the elections and would depend on her party’s performance. Stepping back from his own direct negotiations with her in Abu Dhabi in August, he said Ms. Bhutto would have to negotiate with other political parties, and not with him, as he was “neutral.”

Gen. Musharraf also ruled out the reinstatement of the sacked judiciary, a key demand of all Opposition parties, which Ms. Bhutto also articulated for the first time on Saturday when she made a surprise appearance outside the ousted Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhary’s home and made an unsuccessful attempt to meet him.

At his first press conference after the November 3 promulgation of Emergency, Gen. Musharraf, dressed in a dark blue suit, devoted much time to a tirade against Mr. Chaudhary, angrily listing his alleged misdemeanours and corruption.

He was also critical of the media for not being supportive in the fight against terrorism and extremism.

“If the media is going to make heroes of terrorists and villains of law enforcers, then God save the war on terror,” he said.

Although Gen. Musharraf said he stood for a free media, and stressed that he welcomed criticism, he did not say when the government would lift restrictions that have taken private Pakistani television channels and international channels like BBC and CNN off air.

Instead, he talked about media responsibility and the need to adhere to a code of conduct.

“I am for independence of media. And this is what I gave to the media in Pakistan. I still stand by it, but all that I desire, the government desires, is responsibility,” he said.

He said he welcomed criticism, but added that checks were necessary on “defamation by design, distortion of facts, projection of non-truths and humiliation.” He demanded that the media play a “positive role” in fighting terrorism.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice welcomed the announcement of elections by January 9 and Gen. Musharraf’s promise to take oath as a civilian President as a positive step, but in the same breath demanded that the Emergency be lifted.

The international rights group, Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that free elections were not possible in a state of Emergency.

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