Pervez Musharraf has led Pakistan since 1999.

A 2007 Pakistani state of emergency was declared by Pervez Musharraf on November 3, 2007 and lasted until December 15, 2007, during which time the constitution of Pakistan was suspended. When the state of emergency was declared, Musharraf controversially held both positions of President and Chief of Army Staff; although he later resigned as army chief 25 days into the emergency on November 28. The state of emergency and its responses are generally related to the controversies surrounding the re-election of Musharraf during the presidential election that had occurred earlier on October 6, 2007, including his holding of both offices of President and Chief of Army Staff at the time.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry reacted promptly to the emergency declaration, convening a seven-member bench which issued an interim order against this action. He also ordered the armed forces of Pakistan not to obey any illegal orders. Subsequently, the 111th brigade of the Pakistan army entered the supreme court building and removed Chaudhry and several other judges from the supreme court and arrested them.

It was announced early on that the state of emergency would likely end in late November or early December 2007,. After being sworn in for a second presidential term on 29 November 2007 Musharraf immediately declared that the state of emergency would end on 16 December 2007., although the emergency actually ended one day earlier, on 15 December 2007, with an announcement by Musharraf.

The Pakistani general election previously scheduled to occur in early January 2008 would be postponed. At the beginning of the emergency, Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan said on television media that the general election could be delayed many months and perhaps up to a year. Later the election was rescheduled to take place by 15 February 2008, as announced by Musharraf himself. A few days later he called for the election date to be on or before 9 January 2008, before a final date of 8 January 2008 was decided. However, because of unforeseen events occurring after the state of emergency ended, primarily the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and its aftermath, the general elections were again postponed by the Election Commission, with the elections finally being held on February 18, 2008.

Background

Leading up to the 2007 presidential elections, the Election Commissioner approved General Pervez Musharraf as a candidate for re-election. One of his opponents, retired Supreme Court justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, challenged the ruling in the Supreme Court. The dispute was primarily regarding whether a member of the military was constitutionally permitted to run for the office of the president, as Musharraf held both titles of President and Chief of Army Staff.

Responding to the challenge, the Supreme Court allowed the election to go forward on schedule but barred the Election Commission from officially declaring a winner until it made its final decision. Subsequently, all but one opposition party, the Pakistan Peoples Party, resigned from the assembly in protest. The sole remaining opposition party member also boycotted the election and did not participate in the proceeding. On October 6, presidential elections were held with Musharraf winning 98% votes in the parliament and the provincial assemblies.

While the Supreme Court was hearing the case of Musharraf’s eligibility as a candidate, it announced that it would likely need to delay the hearing until November 12 due to a personal engagement of one of the honorable members of the bench. On November 2 the court reversed that decision to break, stating that it would now reconvene the following Monday on November 5 to attempt to finish it quickly. This reversal was in part due to criticism that the court’s continuing delay was adding to Pakistan’s general instability. Convening on November 12 would have left a tight schedule of just three days before the end of Musharraf’s previous presidential term on 15 November.

Parliamentary elections are due to be held by February 2008, no later than a month after the original target date for elections.

Prior to the emergency declaration, Attorney General Malik Qayyum representing Musharraf had assured the court that there was no planned move by the government to impose martial law.

It was anticipated and one of Musharraf’s allies admitted later that they had gotten a leak from one of the supreme court judges that the decision of the court, had it been reached, would likely be against Musharraf.

Declaration of a state of emergency

Before the court could reach a decision, General Pervez Musharraf acting as Chief of the Army Staff declared a state of emergency in the name of the Chief of Army Staff, on the evening of 3 November 2007, and issued a Provisional Constitutional Order which replaces the country’s constitution. The constitution of Pakistan allows the President of Pakistan to declare a State of Emergency when he is satisfied a situation exists that warrants its imposition. In the case that a President of Pakistan declares a State of Emergency, the National Assembly has to approve it within 30 days. However, Musharraf (who holds both the offices of President of Pakistan and Chief of the Army Staff), declared it under his authority of Chief of the Army staff for which there is no provision in the constitution. The state-run Pakistan Television Corporation issued a brief announcement saying that “The Chief of the Army Staff (General Musharraf) has proclaimed state of emergency and issued a provisional constitutional order,” at 6:10 am local time without giving any details. Under the order, the Constitution was suspended, the federal cabinet ceased to exist, and the justices were ordered to take an oath to abide by it. Those who failed to do so would be dismissed.

Supreme Court’s stay

On 2 November 2007 Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan submitted an application to the ‎‎Supreme Court asking that the Government be restrained from ‎imposing martial law in Pakistan. To this ‎application the Supreme Court issued a stay order on 3 November 2007 against the imposition of ‎an emergency. This stay order was ignored by the Chief of Army Staff ‎and the emergency was imposed across the country.

Events during the state of emergency

The Pakistani public largely ignored the call of politicians and activists to come out on the streets to protest against the imposition of emergency rule. Hence no major mass public protests were witnessed during the duration of the emergency and the reaction of the public to the calls of protest remained mute throughout.

However, opinion polls reflected strong public opposition to imposition of state of emergency. 67% demanded General Musharraf’s resignation where as 71% said they opposed the suspension of Constitution. More than 70% people surveyed said that they were opposed to closure of private television channels, arrest of Chief Justices and mass arrests.

Islamabad:International broadcasts and local phones were blocked in some locations. Additionally, barriers and barbed wires were erected at important points in the capital.

Aitzaz Ahsan, a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), attorney and president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, was arrested at his home. :Key opposition figures and senior lawyers were also placed under house arrest. It should be noted that all were released in a couple of days time.

Hundreds of students joined in protests lead by faculty of Quaid-e-Azam University, they were joined by scores of civil rights activists. Police presence forced students to ‘flash demonstrations’ and prompt disbanding.

Lahore: After the announcement of emergency, police acted swiftly to arrest thousands of lawyers, human rights activists and politicians. Crackdowns were made throughout night of November Third to thwart any opposition.

All members of HRCP, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan including Asma Jehangir and Salima Hashmi were jailed. The Mall Road, where official buildings including Secretariat, Governor House, and High Court remained barricaded at a number of points.

There were protests at all universities of the city, Pakistan’s leading university LUMS, Punjab University, Beaconhouse National University, National College of Arts, Government College, Foreman Christian College and others. The students also led the fight on internet where thousands of blog unanimously denounced the State of Emergency.

Faisalabad: Heavy contingents of police was deployed in the eight major bazaars of the city and the district courts. Hundreds of lawyers, civil rights activists, journalists, media persons and political activists protested, prompting brutal use of force and baton charging by police. Police also sealed the courts and the press club.

Sialkot

Opposition leader Khawaja M. Asif, Member of the National Assembly (MNA), was placed under house arrest shortly after the declaration of emergency. As of November 7, he has been arrested, by order of the Pakistan Army, and taken to an undisclosed location. Khawaja Asif is a member of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML(N)), the party headed by exiled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Peshawar

Army pickets were established in Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan. Hundreds of protesters joined processions lead by the local Awami National Party forcing police to arrest all local political leadership of opposition parties to crush demonstrations.

Southern Pakistan

Karachi

Reports from inside Karachi state that situation remained peaceful and not entirely different than any other weekend.

Quetta

The police also picked up five lawyers from southwestern Quetta, who were known as staunch supporters of Chaudhry.

Nationalist opposition leaders Mehmood Khan Achakzai and Qadir Magsi were detained in their home towns in southern Pakistan.

• BBC: On 3 November, 2007 BBC opened debate on the Emergency and more than 10,000 comments were received, many against emergency rule.|BBC
• By the end of November 5, 2007 over 3,500 people had been arrested. Most ‎of these were lawyers, civil rights leaders and members of the political parties. ‎‎‎ But almost all of them were soon released and by the time the emergency ended, all arrested had been released. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour also reported that a Pakistani UN official, Asma Jahangir, was among the judicial and political officials detained. The vast majority of the detained were released within a two week period and the remainder released in the following days.
• On November 14, 2007, former Cricketer and Opposition Leader Imran Khan arrived at Punjab University to take part in a protest with the students. However, Imran Khan’s presence enraged some students, who felt he was attempting to take credit for their efforts and also because the students had previously made it clear that politicians were not welcome in their protests. As a result, some students of the Opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party manhandled Imran Khan soon after his arrival, locked him up in the University for around two hours, and later handed him over to the local police.

• While some Pakistani expatriates called November 3, 2007 a Black Day in the History of Pakistan, when General Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan, other expatriate Pakistanis also supported Musharraf’s decision to impose a brief emergency rule in Pakistan and held pro-Musharraf rallies in London , Toronto, Brussel, and other Western cities.

Speech to the nation

President Musharraf addresses Pakistan for the first time since state of emergency was announced, shown here on CNN-IBN.

Early Sunday morning Pervez Musharraf addressed Pakistan for the first time since declaring the state of emergency in a speech broadcast on state-run PTV. The following is a translation of Musharaf’s speech from the original Urdu:

“

Today I make this address because our country is at a dangerous juncture, facing a national crisis. Throughout history, nations have often had to make difficult decisions. That time has come now for Pakistan — we have to make important and painful decisions. If these decisions are not made then Pakistan’s future is at stake.Before saying anything further, I promise that the decision I have made is, first of all, for the sake of Pakistan. Pakistan is above all personal interests. The people of Pakistan should agree with me on this.In the last few months, our situation has changed dramatically. Terrorism and Extremism are rampant. Suicide bombings are widespread. In Karachi, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, fanaticism is now common. Fundamentalist extremists are everywhere. They are not afraid of law-enforcement agencies.What was confined to the frontier areas, has now extended to many other areas. Extremism has spread even to Islamabad - the heart of Pakistan.The people are worried. The extremists are trying to take the authority and power of the government into their own hands. They want to impose their outdated religious views upon the people.In my eyes, this is a direct challenge to Pakistan’s future as a moderate nation.

”

Musharraf also referred to US President Abraham Lincoln, saying that Lincoln’s suspension of certain rights during the American Civil War in order to save the nation is analogous to his declaration of a state of emergency for Pakistan.

Musharraf has said that the forthcoming election date will not be affected by the declaration.

Ban on media

‎ With the imposition of emergency a media blackout followed. National channels like ‎‎GEO TV, Aaj tv and other channels were also blocked. General Musharaff ‎maintained that these channels were creating discord, misrepresenting facts, ‎were not responsible, and were contributing to the instability of the nation. The ‎Government also cracked down on international channels like BBC and CNN. Geo News, a GEO television network was ordered to shut down its news channel. Geo News reported that authorities in Dubai had asked the network’s administration ‎to close down its operations. The network said no reason had been given for the ‎move.‎ ‎

The government expelled three journalists from the British news paper the Daily ‎Telegraph after calling general Musharaff “our son of a bitch”. This is an allusion to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s defence of Nicaragua’s heavy-handed but U.S.-backed dictator, Anastasio Somoza García. However this is still viewed as an extremely severe insult in Pakistan.‎

On 21 November 2007 two thousand detainees under the Emergency were released, but 3,000 remained in detention, according to London’s Metro newspaper. The recent attacks on a 10 km road race in the Punjab, which included women and resulted in a gun battle is viewed as the Talibanization of Pakistan, to which Musharraf is opposed. .

Musharraf’s Govt. arrested moderate groups of society such as Human Rights Activists and Lawyers.

Effect on the economy

The ‎‎Pakistani stock market was the first to react, with the Karachi ‎‎Stock Exchange (KSE) falling by more than 4.6% on the first day of the ‎‎emergency.‎

Investors in the United Kingdom pulled back ‎‎$26.27 million while investors in the United States withdrew ‎‎$51.93 million. It’s estimated that more than $235 million in ‎‎total were withdrawn from the KSE during the emergency.

‎Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services also revised its outlook on the ‎‎long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings of ‎‎Pakistan from stable to negative.‎

The Dutch government froze development aid to Pakistan in response ‎to the imposition ‎of emergency rule. Deputy Minister for ‎Development Bert Koenders decided to suspend ‎the remainder of ‎the €15 million (US$22 million) that had yet to be paid in 2007.‎

Reaction

Pakistan

People of Pakistan

So far the majority of Pakistanis have not heeded calls to protest. The public is not directly affected by this declaration. Only those who are politically active were involved in the protest. Many lawyers who previously protested during the CJP saga have kept off the streets. However, it should be noted that hundreds of lawyers are detained. Also, the vast majority of lawyers have boycotted the High Courts all over the nation. Opposition parties and the majority of lawyers have joined protests. So far the largest protest was held on 5th November when 2000 Lawyers marched in Lahore. But as the emergency prolonged the people came out on the streets in relatively small numbers because of the police brutality against protesters. Still regular protests took place in all the cities of Pakistan & lawyers boycotted courts throughout the country for 3-4 weeks.

Opposition leaders

Opposition leader Imran Khan was served with a house arrest. However he was able to escape house arrest and after giving a press conference appeared at a student rally in Lahore. He was detained by students purporting to be from Jamaat-e-Islami until arrested by police on charges of terrorism, due to his call for the people to “rise up and overthrow” the Government”. On 19 November he announced from his jail cell that he would be on hunger strike until the sacked judges were reinstated and emergency rule ended. His ex-wife Jemima Khan and his children have led small scale pickets in London at the Pakistan High Commission. On 21 November 2007 he was released and has pledged that his party, Movement for Justice or Tehreek-e-Insaaf would not contest the forthcoming election. Imran Khan is its only M.P. and it last polled 0.8% of the popular vote.

The AP reports that Benazir Bhutto was greeted by supporters chanting slogans at the airport. After staying in her plane for several hours she was driven to her home in Karachi, accompanied by hundreds of supporters^. On November 8, Bhutto was placed under house arrest by the Pakistani government.

After one day the house arrest was lifted. Bhutto said that the election date set of 15 February 2008 was “too vague” and planned to undertake a “long march” in car procession around Pakistan, as she did before, protesting against Nawaz Sharif. The Army cautioned her against this, citing the risk of further suicide bomb attacks. On 12 November 2007 she was again placed under house arrest for a week to prevent this happening. Musharraf also gave the election date as 9 January 2008. Bhutto rejected this as being too soon after emergency rule. Subsequently Bhutto was released from house arrest again, but the Daily Jang (20 Nov.07)reported the Attorney General, Mohammed Qayyum as saying that five writs were to be heard to revoke her immunity from prosecution on corruption charges, which claim that only the judiciary had the right to grant immunity not President Musharraf. Qayyum described them as “likely to succeed”. Bhutto had by 25 November filed nomination papers for the 8 January elections, despite not confirming her intention to boycott them.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that “Imposing emergency is another form of terrorism.” The acting head of the former Prime Minister’s political party, Javed Hashmi, who was arrested, stated, “People will win. Generals will lose. They have to surrender.” On 23 November 2007 it was announced in the Guardian that Nawaz Sharif would return to Pakistan after the King of Saudi Arabia reportedly told Musharaf that they would not keep him in Saudi Arabia and he landed in Lahore on 25 November in a Saudi aircraft, with his wife, Kulsoom and brother Shabaz. He has said that he wishes to restore democracy from dictatorship, but has not said whether he will boycott the elections in January. Neither has Bhutto, but she had already filed nomination papers. Sharif filed nomination papers the day after his return, but has said that he would not serve as Prime Minister under Musharraf.

The Minister of the State for Information, Tariq Azim Khan, said on television media that the elections in Pakistan scheduled for January would be delayed indefinitely. President Musharraf later announced that elections would be held by mid-February.

Judges

The new Provisional Constitutional Order required judges to retake an oath of allegiance to Musharraf. Many refused to do so, including 15 Supreme Court judges. Additionally, only a fraction of the judges in Pakistan’s provinces took the new oath: in Punjab 12 out of 31, in Sindh 4 out of 27, in the North-West Frontier Province 7 out of 15, and in Balochistan 5 out of 11 retook their oaths.

On November 6 Pakistan’s Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who is under house arrest, spoke by phone to a group of 500 lawyers. In his statement he said that the constitution had been “ripped to shreds” and that the people should “rise up and restore” it. He added that while he is under guard, he will soon “join you in your struggle.”

It was alleged that the government used ‎blackmail to get judges to take oath ‎under the new PCO. Videos were sent out to at least three of the 11 ‎judges as they were whether General Pervez Musharraf was eligible to run for president. ‎‎‎‎‎

Around 60 judges refused to take oath under “PCO”, which includes,no judgment can be passed against any government even found guilty.

On 20 November 2007 it was reported in the Daily Jang that a newly-appointed Supreme Court had dismissed five writs challenging Musharraf’s confirmation as president and was waiting to adjudicate the sixth. Another from the Pakistan Peoples Party was withdrawn as the originators do not recognize the new court. The Court has threatened to revoke the license of any lawyer not recognizing its authority. Packing the Supreme Court with supporters is not unusual. Previously Musharraf appointed Iftikar Chaudhry as his nominee and the previous prime minster Nawaz Sharif also packed the judiciary with his sympathizers.

Religious leaders

Qazi Hussain Ahmed called for protests in order to overthrow the “the military dictator,” during a speech near the outside of Lahore to 20,000 of his followers. He is an Islamic leader of MMA, a religious alliance opposing Musharraf.

Lawyer community strike

Deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry called on lawyers nationwide on November 11 to defy baton-wielding police and protest President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s imposition of emergency rule.

“Go to every corner of Pakistan and give the message that this is the time to sacrifice,” Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who is under virtual house arrest in Islamabad, told lawyers by mobile phone. “Don’t be afraid. God will help us and the day will come when you’ll see the constitution supreme and no dictatorship for a long time.”

The President of the Supreme Court Bar Association and other legal leaders were taken into custody immediately after the imposition of emergency rule. As a result, the Pakistan lawyer community called for a nationwide strike on November 5, 2007 against Musharraf’s decision to impose emergency rule.

International

The immediate response from most countries has been critical, with the measures viewed as running counter to liberal-democratic reforms.