Hundreds of Opposition Figures Arrested in Pakistan
By VOA News
04 November 2007
Pakistan’s government has arrested hundreds of opposition members and says a national election due in January may be delayed under a state of emergency.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told a news conference Sunday that after Parliament ends its term on November 15th, the government could take up to a year to hold a new election.
Among the opposition members arrested Sunday was Javed Hashmi the acting president of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s party. Mr. Aziz told the news conference that up to 45 people were arrested in Islamabad and up to 500 in all of Pakistan.
On Saturday, Pakistan’s president and army chief Pervez Musharraf suspended the country’s constitution, shut down independent broadcasters and removed the country’s top judge. He said the state of emergency is necessary because of rising violence from Islamic militants, and asserted that judicial decisions are demoralizing law enforcement officials, setting known terrorists free, and undermining his efforts to move the country toward democracy.
General Musharraf’s critics say the state of emergency was imposed because the Supreme Court had been scheduled to rule in a few days on the validity of the president’s re-election last month by Parliament.
Saturday, troops entered the Supreme Court in Islamabad and took away Chief Justice Itikhar Chaudhry, whose suspension earlier this year triggered nationwide protests.
Others detained or held under house arrest include the attorney leading the legal challenge to General Musharraf’s re-election, and Imran Khan, the internationally known former cricketer who leads a small opposition party.
General Musharraf appeared on national television Saturday to defend the state of emergency, hours after security forces blocked off key streets around government buildings and imposed tough curbs on the media.