Islamabad - The incoming ruling party of slain Pakistani
opposition leader Benazir Bhutto vowed Friday to strip embattled
President Pervez Musharraf of his power to dissolve parliament and
dismiss the elected government.
The decision, taken in a meeting of senior officials from Bhutto's
Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which won national elections held
Monday, is the first of many expected steps by the opposition to
strip Musharraf of powers he gained after taking the country over in
a military coup in 1999.
'The participants expressed views on the prevailing situation in
the country and vowed to work for the restoration of parliamentary
supremacy by undoing undemocratic provisions under which elected
Parliaments have been dismissed,' a statement released by the PPP
said.
Currently, Pakistan's constitute gives Musharraf the power to
dissolve parliament, which some suspect he might do if the incoming
government and lawmakers attempt to reinstate judges the president
fired in November 2007 as they were about to overturn his
controversial re-election the previous month.
The PPP's incoming coalition partner, former prime minister Nawaz
Sharif, is demanding dozens of sacked Supreme Court and High Court
judges be reinstated so they can rule on the legality of Musharraf's
re-election and imposition of emergency rule, during which he jailed
political opponents and suspended the constitution to ensure his
survival.
If the new parliament does reinstate the judges, it could mark the
beginning of a showdown with Musharraf, a key US ally in fighting
resurgent Taliban and al-Qaeda militants along Pakistan's western
border with Afghanistan.
The president's political backer, the Pakistan Muslim
League-Quaid, finished a distant third in the elections, leaving
Musharraf politically weakened and powerless to sway events in the
new parliament.
The removal of the judges triggered nationwide protests and
boycotts by lawyers' groups, sending Musharraf's popularity
plummeting. Monday's polls were seen as a referendum on his rule, and
he suffered a humiliating rebuke.
The US-based Human Rights Watch said Friday that the government
should immediately reinstate the dismissed judges.
Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower and PPP co-chairman, and Sharif
agreed Thursday to form a coalition government after parliament
convenes. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz finished second in
the polls.
In a letter to both leaders, Human Right Watched urged them to
release at least a dozen judges and lawyers who have been under
detention or house arrest since Musharraf imposed emergency measures.
They should 'make commitments in any new government they form to
immediately release from detention all lawyers and judges arrested or
detained for peaceful political protest or opposition to the previous
government,' a statement from the organization said.
Iftikhar Chaudhry, the sacked Supreme Court chief justice and a
bitter political rival of Musharraf, remains under house arrest at
his Islamabad residence.
The new government should also remove all curbs on the electronic
and print media imposed through presidential decrees and rescind
legal and constitutional measures that Musharraf put in place during
the state of emergency, Human Rights Watch said.
Zardari and Sharif agreed on Thursday to work in parliament to
restore the judges to their jobs, but Musharraf said earlier in the
week that it would be impossible to do so.
Human Rights Watch also chastised the US and British governments,
Musharraf's chief foreign backers, for their silence on the issue.
'The refusal of the United States and the United Kingdom to press
Musharraf to restore the judiciary is shameful,' Brad Adams, Asia
director of the group, said.
'Now is the test: will they continue to support Musharraf at all
costs, or will they support the rule of law?' he said.
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