ISLAMABAD (AFP) — President Pervez Musharraf said Saturday that his emergency rule had saved Pakistan, as he addressed the nation just hours after repealing it in the face of fierce criticism at home and abroad.
In a televised speech that underlined what he said was his central role in bringing democracy to the nuclear-armed Islamic nation, the president also vowed that elections next month would be "absolutely fair".
The 64-year-old former army general drew international criticism when he put the country under emergency rule on November 3, citing a surge in attacks by Islamic militants as well as what he alleged was interference by the judiciary.
Musharraf, who lifted the order earlier Saturday, said he had imposed it as a last resort because the country, a key part of the US-led international "war on terror", faced a serious threat of militant violence.
"Against my will and as a last resort, I imposed emergency rule and saved Pakistan from destabilisation," he said.
"It was inevitable, in my view, and that is why I imposed it," said Musharraf, wearing a sombre black tunic in the pre-recorded announcement.
"The wave of terrorism and militancy has been stopped under the emergency and there has been considerable improvement in the overall situation," he said.
Around 700 people have been killed in militant attacks across Pakistan this year, including five people hit by a suicide bomber earlier in the day.
More than half of those have died in an escalation of the bloodshed since July, after the army raided a radical, pro-Taliban mosque and killed around 100 people.
Opponents alleged the real reason for the emergency was to provide cover for a purge of anti-Musharraf judges, who could have entertained legal challenges to his controversial re-election in October.
Under the emergency, the constitution was suspended, thousands of people were jailed, uncooperative judges were sacked and tough new curbs were slapped on the media.
Now, just three weeks before parliament elections, analysts and opponents say the lifting is unlikely to quell deep discontent over his handling of a political crisis that erupted when he took on the country's lawyers in March.
The main opposition leader, former premier Benazir Bhutto, added to the pressure on Musharraf on Saturday, accusing him of trying to rig the election -- a charge the president flatly rejected.
"I give this commitment to the people of Pakistan and to the world outside that the elections are going to be absolutely fair and transparent," he said.
"Some political leaders are talking about rigging when the elections take place on January 8. They are talking about this rigging when the campaign has not yet started," he said. "This is totally baseless."
Late Friday, Musharraf authorised a raft of last-minute amendments to the constitution -- including one to block the next parliament from challenging the legality of the emergency order or trying to undo its provisions.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, a crucial backer of Musharraf along with the United States, said he had used a phone call with the president to call for a "level-playing field" in the elections.
"The international community supports his wish -- and that of the people of Pakistan -- to hold free and fair elections," Brown said.
Critics insist that the amendments and the weeks of emergency mean the vote cannot be free or fair.
Curbs on the media introduced during the emergency -- including a ban on all live TV broadcasts, and anything that "defames" Musharraf or the armed forces -- remain in place. The final list of candidates is to be released on Sunday.
"Musharraf's so-called return to constitutional rule provides legal cover to laws that muzzle the media and lawyers," Ali Dayan Hasan, of US-based activist group Human Rights Watch, said Saturday.
Lawyers have been at the heart of the country's political turmoil since March, when Musharraf tried to suspend the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
That move, later overturned by the Supreme Court, led to massive street protests. Chaudhry was later sacked and remains under house arrest.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
