How have the recent events affected the prospects of free and fair election in Pakistan? A PILDAT team led by its Executive Director Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, has analysed the recent developments in the perspective of the coming elections.


General Pervez Musharraf, in his Press Conference on November 11, 2007, has announced that the General Elections (Election to the National Assembly and the four (4) Provincial Assemblies) will take place before January 9, 2008 following the dissolution of the National Assembly on November 15 and Provincial Assemblies on November 20. This would have been roughly the date for the General Election even if General Musharraf had not suspended the Constitution and proclaimed “Emergency” which is in fact a “Martial Law.” Let us take a look at the conditions under which the proposed General Elections are planned to be held:

  1. The Basic Law of the land, the Constitution, is suspended
  2. Basic Human Rights of the Citizens of Pakistan are suspended
  3. General Pervez Musharraf continues to be the President and Chief of Army Staff simultaneously and holds the absolute powers to enact laws even in contravention to the provisions of the suspended constitution
  4. The majority of the Supreme Court judges including the Chief Justice of Pakistan are sacked by General Musharraf – a power which no constitution of Pakistan ever gave to anyone. The removed judges and their families are kept in forced confinement to an extent that the daughter of the Chief Justice was not allowed to go to her examination centre to take her O-level exams and Mr. Justice Bhagwandas was not allowed to celebrate his religious festival of Diwali and to receive guests
  5. Over 5000 political workers and lawyers who attempted to peacefully protest against the suspension of the Constitution have been first brutally beaten by the Police, humiliated and later imprisoned in far-flung jails of the country where they are reports of ill-treatment and insulting behaviour by the authorities.
  6. Media-related laws have been amended by General Musharraf by ordinances resulting in drastically curtailing the independence of the Media. Government has banned the showing of all private TV Channels. Owners and Publishers of leading Newspapers and TV Channels are being pressurised to fire independent journalists and popular TV Talk Show hosts and agree to other conditions before they are allowed to go on-air.
  7. Mr. Nawaz Sharif, the former Prime Minister and Leader of Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) was forcibly banished from entering Pakistan despite the Supreme Court direction that he has the right to return and stay in Pakistan. This was done regardless of the fact that he is either the most popular, or one of the two most popular, leaders of the country according to various public opinion surveys. The Government is not allowing him to return to Pakistan and participate in the election campaign of his party. While Government Ministers and Chief Ministers are on a spree to address multiple public meetings everyday at state expenses, Ms. Benazir Bhutto, Chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and other opposition political parties are not allowed to hold public meetings on one pretext or the other. Ms. Bhutto was denied permission to hold a public meeting in Rawalpindi on November 9, 2007; she was barricaded in her house in Islamabad and her supporters while trying to reach the public meeting venue were beaten, tortured and arrested.
  8. The Army Act has been amended by General Musharraf such that now even civilians can also be tried and punished by Military Courts.

General Musharraf, in his Press Conference of November 11, has indicated that the above conditions under the “Emergency” (Martial Law) will continue during the upcoming electioneering period.

It is stating the obvious that Free and Fair Election under the above conditions are simply not possible. Holding Elections under the above conditions is a recipe for destabilising the country. People will naturally expect large scale political mobilisation of masses during the electioneering period; any obstacle in the way may lead to violence and political instability. Proclamation of so-called Emergency, assault on the Judiciary and Media has been one of the most unpopular moves of any government in Pakistan’s history. These pent-up feelings of anguish will most likely burst during or immediately after the election period – something which happened twice before in the history of the country; once in 1970 when perceived or real deprivations of the people of East Bengal and denial of their just right to power after the election by the military government led to street agitation transformed into armed rebellion and ultimately Liberation War leading to break up of the country. In 1977, election rigging led to violent street protests against the Government leading to break down of law and order and imposition of Martial Law by the then Army Chief General Zia-ul-Haq.

Gen. Musharraf’s proclamation of November 3 and the subsequent actions have put Pakistan on a dangerous path. While the stability of the country faces real threats, free and fair elections seem a distant dream. 


Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), in an extraordinary meeting on November 12, 2007 at London, has decided to give 10 days to Musharraf Government until November 22 to roll back Emergency and subsequent actions or face suspension from the Commonwealth. The European Union states, media and civil society have registered their strong protest against the proclamation of “Emergency” and demanded its withdrawal, reinstatement of removed judges and removal of curbs from independent news media. Protests on behalf of the US Congress, Media and Civil Society are also getting louder by the day. US Administration has opposed the Emergency and demanded its withdrawal but maintained a mysterious and hard-to-understand silence over the question of reinstatement of the judges sacked under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO). The International community, which has invested huge sums of money and technical assistance in ensuring Free and Fair Election in the country, seems to be developing a general consensus that unless the “Emergency” and its subsequent actions are rolled back, there is no possibility of a free and fair election in Pakistan. The majority of the citizens in Pakistan believe the same.

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