Daily Times : Editorial: Emergency will endanger Pakistan

Editorial: Emergency will endanger Pakistan

August 10, 2007

Reports emanating from Islamabad say that a proclamation of national Emergency is on the table for the approval of President Pervez Musharraf. In fact, the PML chief, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, is worried that it might come “within days”.

But the attorney general, Mr Abdul Qayyum, is in denial, saying that no Emergency is being planned; so too is the law minister, Mr Wasi Zafar. But the minister of state for information, Mr Tariq Azeem, says the “option” is still on the table. Off and on since one year, the PML chief, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, has been hinting at the imposition of Emergency, always adding that, in case it is done the 2007 elections could be postponed for a year under the Constitution.

On the other hand, President Musharraf has always denied the possibility of an Emergency although he apparently never stopped Chaudhry Shujaat from repeating the Emergency mantra. Are we then on the brink of going under Emergency — meaning curtailment of many fundamental rights — as allowed by a number of clauses under Article 232 of the Constitution? The said article lays down the preconditions for emergency as follows:

“If the President is satisfied that a grave emergency exists in which the security of Pakistan, or any part thereof, is threatened by war or external aggression, or by internal disturbance beyond the power of a Provincial Government to control, he may issue a Proclamation of Emergency”. What has changed since last year’s alarms and diversions to make the president step up to the brink, if the reports are true?

It is ironic that the eminent lawyer Mr Fakhruddin G Ibrahim, pleading the case of Mr Nawaz Sharif and others at the Supreme Court for their return to Pakistan, has quoted the very articles that a proclamation of emergency automatically suspends, specifically those that ensure a citizen’s freedom of movement, freedom of assembly and freedom of association. This gives an insight into the thinking of the government if it imposes an Emergency.

The government has announced recommendations to the provinces against the possible threat of terrorist attacks on assemblies of citizens in the days leading up to and on Independence Day on August 14. It has ordered special security measures against possible suicide bombings, including those carried out by women, on the basis of the intelligence it has received. The message in this announcement is that internal security in the country is at risk, and threat to internal security is one of the “preconditions” mentioned in Article 232.

It is true that the government is facing renewed trouble in the Tribal Areas amid threatening statements by the Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri who accuses President Musharraf of making Pakistan “a slave of America”. The peace deals Islamabad made with the Taliban in Waziristan have also fallen apart and the army has gone back into the territory after suffering suicide-bombings in Swat and the Kohat-Bannu area. But this shouldn’t be sufficient reason in the eyes of the government for the imposition of an Emergency.

With the automatic suspension of Articles 15, 16 and 17 pertaining to fundamental rights under Chapter 1 of the Constitution, the government would doubtless arm itself against any agitation which the opposition might plan to stage on the eve of the presidential or general elections after the return home of the ARD leaders, Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mr Nawaz Sharif. Certainly, if the elections are postponed for one year, these leaders may not have the incentive to return home after all, which is what the government wants. In any case, in the eyes of the government, an Emergency would enable it to oust the Supreme Court from its jurisdiction to adjudicate cases pertaining to the leaders’ return.

But these are all the wrong reasons for the imposition of an Emergency. There is no external threat to Pakistan unless one seriously believes the statements made by the presidential candidates in the United States — forcefully rejected and condemned by the Bush Administration — about attacking Pakistan in pursuit of Al Qaeda. Some of the fire-breathing anti-American speeches made by the ruling party MNAs in the National Assembly could be a sign of things to come, but this would be leaning on a straw that will not hold up the government.

The Supreme Court will certainly adjudicate the imposition of an Emergency and may find it wrongly applied. A joint session of the parliament will have to pass the emergency act and, if it doesn’t, the Emergency will lapse after two months. The provincial High Courts’ jurisdiction too will not be ousted by the proclamation of Emergency. The joint parliamentary session will test PMLN leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi’s brag that his party has in its pockets resignations of more than half of the ruling party’s MNAs!

An Emergency will not work whereas the holding of free and fair elections will resolve the dangerous political divide in the country. High-handedness of the state during an Emergency will alienate the people further and produce more anarchy than we see today.

In short, the timing of the move is wrong. It is perceived to be linked to the return of Nawaz Sharif and will make him more popular as the victimised leader. It implies that General Musharraf has not gracefully accepted the restoration of the CJP and wants to clip the wings of the SC. It suggests that General Musharraf is putting his own mundane personal interest above the national interest. It may unite the opposition which is currently divided. Worst of all from the president’s point of view, it may be shot down by the SC and lead to an even bigger crisis for him. The way out is not an Emergency but free and fair general elections that return the mandate to the people to whom it belongs. And if any political deal enables General Musharraf to become Mr Musharraf as president, then that too would be legitimate.