Share this story!            

Nov 2007 emergency

Country embroiled in plethora of crisis two years on

By Masood Rehman

ISLAMABAD: The dark shadow of the November 3, 2007 emergency rule continue to haunt the democratic system even after the lapse of two years, even as the main actor, former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, is no longer in political arena.

On November 3, 2007 General Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule, suspended the constitution and sacked superior court judges who refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order. The emergency was lifted on December 15, 2007.

It was followed by a long drawn battle between the president and the civil society which badly mauled Musharraf’s image and forced him to doff army uniform on November 28, 2007 and transfer military powers to the newly appointed COAS General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

Musharraf was later forced from the office of the president and was replaced by incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari.

The emergency rule upset the political applecart as the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid was defeated in the February 18, 2008 elections and Musharraf was left at the mercy of his opponents. He tried to manipulate the post-election political scenario but failed as he was considered the main hurdle in the restoration of judiciary, which had become the main political slogan, supported also by the civil society and the media.

With the weakening of the political base, the international powers who had supported Musharraf during his eight-year rule started thinking about his utility as president, amid the deteriorating security situation in the country.

Zardari did not hesitate for a second to consign Musharraf to the dustbin of history when the right moment arrived. However, Zardari forgot that his survival is linked to the NRO, which the former president had authored as a quid pro quo. Musharraf had to pack up mainly due to his November 3 misadventure, but his legacy lives on in the form of the NRO. Today parliament and the people are up in arms against the NRO. On July 31, 2009 the SC declared the November 3 emergency rule “illegal” and “unconstitutional” and urged parliament to decide the fate of 37 ordinances, including the NRO, that had surfaced during the emergency rule.

Home | Main

Share this story!