PESHAWAR, Nov 3: The Awami National Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) have condemned the imposition of the state of emergency in the country and demanded that the military top brass should reverse its unconstitutional decision immediately and restore the Constitution forthwith.
Talking to Dawn on Saturday, ANP president Asfandayar Wali Khan demanded that President Pervez Musharraf should withdraw his unconstitutional move and restore the 1973 Constitution forthwith. He said military rule had never been a solution to any political crisis anywhere in the world; instead it had tarnished the image of the country.
He said the extra-constitutional action by Gen Musharraf had put the integrity of the country at stake and made a mockery of democratic values in this age of information and democracy.
Mr Khan, who is convener of the Pukhtun National Democratic Alliance, said Gen Musharraf had staged a coup to undo his lawful retirement ordered by the then prime minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif in 1999 and now once again he had rolled back the entire system to stop the Supreme Court’s decision against his election in military uniform. He said people of Pakistan had always rejected military rule and they would not accept the new facade of dictatorship.
He said forced removal of Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and retention of the puppet governments had proved that the legislature had failed to defend the people’s rights.
It was the judiciary which had safeguarded the people’s rights, he said.
He also condemned blocking of private television channels.
PML-N secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said the military rulers had pushed the country towards a ‘great tragedy’.
He said it was the call of the hour to come on the streets and resist the military rulers.
Mr Jhagra said it was not the time to pass resolutions against the dictators and people should resist the unconstitutional steps of the military regime.
He lauded the role of the judiciary, saying that it had challenged the arbitrary and unlawful actions of rulers and provided justice to the marginalised classes of the society. He said the judiciary, through its practical steps, had proved that it wanted to save the country from the clutches of corrupt, cruel and inept rulers.
He warned that the nation would not forgive those judges who had decided to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) contrary to the norms of the Constitution. He condemned the detention of judges of superior courts.
He called upon the democratic forces to come forward and resist the enemies of Pakistan who were trying to turn the country into a banana republic. He said the PML-N would not allow the military rulers to play with the destiny of the country.
