SMH : Rally cry as Musharraf stands by emergency rule

Rally cry as Musharraf stands by emergency rule

Naween Mangi in Karachi | November 13, 2007

OPPOSITION parties and lawyers pledged to step up demonstrations in the face of government bans after assurances from the President, Pervez Musharraf, that Pakistan's national elections would be held under emergency rule.

"This is the lull before the storm," Ahmed Awais, a spokesman for the opposition politician Imran Khan, said yesterday. "The Government is pushing society into a position where people from all levels will come onto the streets to fight."

The former prime minister Benazir Bhutto promised to press ahead with her plan to lead demonstrators from the eastern city of Lahore to the capital of Islamabad today because General Musharraf did not say when he would lift the emergency, nor give a date for stepping down from his army post, Farhatullah Babar, Bhutto's spokesman, said yesterday.

"We haven't decided whether we will participate in elections or not," Mr Babar said.

Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party warned of violence if the march through the country's political heartland was stopped, but officials said it would probably be banned.

"All banners, rallies and long marches are outlawed and are illegal," the deputy information minister, Tariq Azeem, said . "Those who break the law will be dealt with, and the law is the same for everyone, including the Pakistan People's Party."

Police arrested at least 100 political workers from Bhutto's party in Karachi on Sunday, the newspaper Dawn reported. The police used batons to disperse the protesters, who shouted anti-Government slogans and marched through the city centre, the newspaper said.

Bhutto said on Sunday that elections promised by General Musharraf by early January would be meaningless if held under emergency laws.

General Musharraf imposed a state of emergency 10 days ago, citing a wave of Islamic militant violence and interference by the judiciary on government, and said emergency rule would remain in force to help fight terrorism. The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, called on General Musharraf to lift the rule "as soon as possible".

Opponents say a free and fair ballot will be impossible under martial law, which bans public gatherings and takes television news networks off the air. General Musharraf amended the 1952 Army Act at the weekend, enabling authorities to try civilians in military courts.

The Supreme Court is expected to resume a hearing into challenges of General Musharraf's October election victory this week and could reach a decision by the weekend, the newspaper Daily Times reported yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Government said its nuclear weapons were secure and there was no risk they would be seized by Taliban or al-Qaeda militants, who have expanded their control.

Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg