Musharraf plans legal escape from emergency rule

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf will end the country’s emergency rule on Saturday only after changing the constitution to ensure he cannot be prosecuted for breaking it, a key aide admitted today.

Mr Musharraf sacked leading judges, jailed thousands of opponents and silenced television news channels after he suspended the constitution and imposed the state of emergency in November.

He said he acted to prevent political chaos and give authorities more power against Islamic militants, though critics accuse him of a last-ditch power grab before the previous Supreme Court could declare his continued rule illegal.

Today Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum said the president, who has acknowledged that he breached the constitution, will amend the charter to protect his decisions from legal challenges.

Mr Qayyum said government legal experts were finalising the changes and that they would be announced before Mr Musharraf lifts the emergency on Saturday, but provided no details.

“The president will lift the emergency to restore the constitution and the fundamental rights,” he said.

His comments came a day after Information Minister Nisar Memon rejected claims that the government was trying to stifle the media ahead of next month’s parliamentary elections.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists accused the government of “an attempt to silence the free media” by ordering TV stations to stop airing live coverage of political debate.

The government’s media watchdog claimed some stations were still airing live coverage and taking live telephone calls which “contain baseless propaganda against Pakistan and incite people to violence.”

The letter warned that the channels could be taken off the air and those responsible jailed for up to three years.

The threat could prevent networks from covering speeches of opposition leaders like Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, two former prime ministers who recently returned from years of living in exile.

Both have hit the campaign trail this week after abandoning threats to boycott the January 8 elections.

The media crackdown adds to concerns over whether the elections, meant to restore democracy after eight years of military-dominated rule under Mr Musharraf, can be free and fair, although the president has repeatedly said that he would ensure “a level playing field” for all.

Today, about 1,000 lawyers rallied in the eastern city of Lahore, chanting slogans against Mr Musharraf and urging a vote boycott unless the government reinstates the deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and other independent-minded judges. About 800 lawyers, Islamists and rights activists held a similar rally in Multan.

Mr Musharraf, who seized power in the 1999 coup, stepped down as army chief last month, meeting a key demand of the opposition and his foreign backers.