Via the BBC: Musharraf imposes emergency rule

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf has declared emergency rule, state-run TV has said, amid reports that police have surrounded the Supreme Court.

Judges are believed to be inside the building in Islamabad, reports say.

Not coincidentally, the Supreme Court is currently deliberating on whether Musharraf was a legitimate candidate in the recent presidential elections, and according to the report, there were fears by the Musharraf government that the Court was going to rule against him.

No doubt he will declare that he is “saving democracy” once again (which he basically said in 1999 when he first took power via a military coup).

According to the AFP, Musharraf has linked the courts to the current wave of terrorism in Pakistan and he has used that as justification for the state of emergency:

President Pervez Musharraf blamed a wave of Islamic militancy and “interference” by Pakistan’s judiciary for the imposition of emergency rule, according to a copy of the order obtained by AFP.

[…]

“Some members of the judiciary are working at cross purposes with the executive and legislature in the fight against terrorism and extremism, thereby weakening the government and the nation’s resolve and diluting the efficacy of its action to control this menace,” it added.

It said a “situation has thus arisen where the government of the country cannot be carried on in accordance with the constitution, and as the constitution provides no solution for the situation, there is no way out except through emergent and extraordinary measures.”