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| People listen to a televised speech of Pakistan's military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf in Lahore, Pakistan. Musharraf declared
a state of emergency in Pakistan on Saturday ahead of a crucial Supreme Court decision on whether to overturn his recent election
win and amid rising Islamic militant violence. K.M. Chaudary |
Emergency rule in Pakistan: Musharraf's last grab for power?
Citing terrorism and an 'activist' judiciary, the president says martial law will prevent the country from committing 'suicide.'
from the November 5, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
For now, however, there is little chance of America doing anything dramatic to undermine Musharraf's authority, he says. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called the order "highly regrettable" and she told reporters Sunday that the US will "review" the billions of dollars it gives Pakistan each year – much of it in military aid.
But a Defense Department official said Saturday that he expected no change in the Pentagon's relationship with Pakistan. It is an acknowledgment of what many analysts suggest Musharraf already knew: He is perceived to be too important an ally to antagonize – even with January's parliamentary elections hanging in the balance. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Sunday that the elections could be delayed up to one year.
"The US is in a very awkward position," says Professor Abbas.
In his televised address to the nation Saturday night, Musharraf clearly sought to assuage the West's concerns – addressing Pakistanis as well as delivering an entire section of his speech in English for "friends in the West."
Describing a country that he said was becoming ungovernable under the present constitutional system, Musharraf claimed that an activist judiciary and a "negativist" independent media were creating an environment that was weakening the executive and law-enforcement authorities and creating an atmosphere that supported growing terrorism and extremism.
"I cannot allow the country to commit suicide," the president told viewers.
There is little evidence, though, that the order has any real relation to terrorism, say experts and security analysts. The extremists in Pakistan's border regions are not a threat to the solvency of the state, nor is emergency rule likely to change the Army's fortunes in fighting them.
"Martial law does not add to his strength in terms of the forces on the ground," says Shafqat Mahmood, a columnist for the newspaper The News. "All this does is remove his concerns about the Supreme Court."
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