Pakistan elections in balance as protests go on

The sacked head of Pakistan’s Supreme Court today called on the country to rise up against President Pervez Musharraf.

Former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, under house arrest after being removed from his post when the president imposed emergency rule on Saturday, called on lawyers to defy police.

“Go to every corner of Pakistan and give the message that this is the time to sacrifice. 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.”

He spoke as lawyers again clashed with riot police and the government wrestled with when to hold parliamentary elections which were due this January but could now be postponed for up to two years.

Thousands of people have been rounded up and thrown in jail, including members of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s party.

Ms Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan last month following eight years in exile, flew to Islamabad today to discuss the political crisis with other opposition parties and said she had no plans to meet gen Musharraf.

Just weeks ago she had been considering forming a political alliance with him.

She challenged him to promise in public that the elections would be held on time, claiming she had been told there would be a one to two year delay.

However former cricket star Imran Khan who now leads a small opposition party escaped house arrest to go into hiding and accused Ms Bhutto of secretly working with gen Musharraf.

He said: “They are using sheer force against lawyers, human rights organisations, political activists and all genuine opposition leaders are in jail. The police have ransacked my house and ill treated my family members.”

Pakistan’s Cabinet discussed the elections today and one minister claimed they would be held up by only a matter of months.

“There will not be a delay of elections for longer than three months,” he said, adding: “There is no final decision.”

Meanwhile the protests continued. In the central city of Multan hundreds of police blocked about 1,000 lawyers from leaving a district court complex for a street rally. Both sides pelted each other with stones and police used batons to disperse the crowd.

Opposition groups say about 3,500 people have been arrested so far, although government officials put the figure around 2,500. Most are lawyers, although opposition party supporters and rights activists have also been arrested.

The authoritarian measures have drawn widespread international criticism, but so far only the Netherlands has actually done anything, freezing most of its development aid.