Why Emergency and Not Martial Law
By Ekbal Qidwai
Los Angeles, CA
The reason Pakistani military dictator General Pervaiz Musharraf did not declare martial law but an emergency is because he had no reason to dissolve the parliament; he has managed to get a docile, rubber stamp parliament by craftily playing roughshod with the electoral process in the past.
With the emergency he has achieved his two goals: To remove the patriotic Supreme Court judges that come between him and free and fair elections and the media which have been blacked out for the first time.
Anyone who is anybody in any opposition political party has been arrested; as have been most good journalists, lawyers and other members of the civil society.
We have seen elections in Iraq, Afghanistan; they failed to resolve the core issues and the puzzle can be solved if we apply our American values to our foreign policy.
We need a restoration of the judiciary, free media and a neutral election commission to have free and fair elections that people will accept.
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