Pakistan Tells U.S. Election Will Proceed
The U.S. ambassador to Pakistan has been assured by the country's election commissioner that parliamentary elections scheduled for January, but threatened by Gen. Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule, will go ahead.
In her first comments to the Western media since Musharraf, Pakistan's president, ordered emergency rule on Saturday, Ambassador Anne Patterson told CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar "he (election commissioner) thinks they will go ahead on time, he is ready to proceed."
Speaking after a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Irshad Hasan Khan in Islamabad, Patterson called for the immediate release of hundreds of opposition party members who have been detained since the imposition of emergency rule.
"For elections to be credible, opposition political party leaders and their party workers must be released from jail or house arrest. The media must be free to report on events and share their opinions with the public.
"I urge the commissioner to announce the elections schedule as soon as possible, to reassure the people of Pakistan and the international community that the government remains committed to holding elections on schedule," she said.
Reiterating the call made Monday by President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Patterson added that U.S. officials "expect President Musharraf to step down as chief of Army staff and begin his promised transition to civilian democratic rule.
The White House Tuesday urged "calm and restraint" in Pakistan while calling for "an immediate return to civilian rule," reports CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer.
Spokeswoman Dana Perino said Musharraf had "made a mistake and should get back on the road to democracy." Maer reports the Bush administration is continuing to review U.S. aid to Pakistan, but there's no sign of any cuts in the billions of dollars in help.
Perino said "we have to be very mindful" of Pakistan's cooperation on counterterrorism. Perino brushed aside President Bush's subdued public comments on the situation Monday, saying Musharraf is "well aware of how the president sees the situation."
Prior to the declaration of a state of emergency - which Musharraf said was necessary due to increasing attacks by Islamic radicals across the country - the U.S.-backed military ruler had agreed to leave his army post and remain civilian leader.
In the hours after Musharraf took emergency measures, Pakistani officials said the January election could be postponed by as much as a year, causing consternation in Washington and other Western capitals where leaders are eager to see a key ally in the war on terror steer toward democratic rule.
Asked by MacVicar whether she thought Musharraf himself had made the decision that elections should go ahead in January, Patterson chose not to address recent ambiguities coming from within the Pakistani government.
"Let me just restate the U.S. government's position: We expect him to hold elections on time, and we are ready to do all we can to facilitate that process," she said.
There is a deepening sense of crisis in Pakistan as the clamp downs continued Tuesday, reports MacVicar, not on the extremists Musharraf said threatened the country but on moderates and those who support the rule of law.Read Full Patterson Interview Transcript
Pakistan's deposed chief justice called on lawyers nationwide Tuesday to defy baton-wielding police and continue protesting Musharraf's emergency rule.
"Go to every corner of Pakistan and give the message that this is the time to sacrifice," Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who is under virtual house arrest in Islamabad, told lawyers by mobile phone. "Don't be afraid. God will help us and the day will come when you'll see the constitution supreme and no dictatorship for a long time."
Later, in the central city of Multan, hundreds of police blocked about 1,000 attorneys from leaving a district court complex to stage a street rally in defiance of a ban. Both sides pelted each other with stones and officers swung batons to disperse the crowd.
When Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup, declared the emergency, he suspended the constitution, ousted independent-minded judges, put a stranglehold on the media and granted sweeping powers to authorities to crush dissent.
Many say Musharraf was making a last-ditch effort to cling to power, though he says his primary aim was to help fight rising Islamic extremism. The moves came ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether his recent re-election as president was legal. The top judge, Chaudhry, was removed and other independent-minded justices replaced.
Contrary to Musharraf's moves making it more difficult for militants to operate in the lawless regions along the border with Afghanistan, CBS News terrorism analyst Michael Scheuer says the security services being forced to divert attention to street protests may have the opposite effect.
"Certainly it'll mean less Pakistani military and police forces available to go into that border area... They'll be busy keeping order in the cities, arresting lawyers, whatever they're up to at the moment.
"So it will give more of a breather to the Taliban and al Qaeda," Scheuer told CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.
Asked about concerns that Pakistan's significant nuclear weapons arsenal could fall into the wrong hands amid the political turmoil - with extremist elements known to exist in the country, Scheuer said his impression was that the weapons were well controlled.
"I think the Pakistanis are very responsible in control of their nuclear weapons," he said, "and the United States has now had six years to prepare to take them over if we need to do that, so there must be a U.S. Military plan to do it."
There does not appear to be a groundswell of popular resistance in the nation of 160 million, which has been under military rule for much of its 60-year history. Cynicism and apathy over the political system is widespread. Demonstrations so far have been limited largely to opposition activists, rights workers and lawyers, angered by the attacks on the judiciary.
The authoritarian measures have drawn widespread international criticism, although so far only the Netherlands has punished Pakistan, freezing most of its development aid.
The United States, Pakistan's chief foreign donor, says it is reviewing aid to Pakistan but appeared unlikely to cut assistance to a close ally in its war on terror. President Bush urged Musharraf to resign as army chief and hold parliamentary elections in January as originally planned.
U.S. aid to Pakistan has totaled more than $10 billion since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in America. But Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested that military assistance may not be affected so as not to disrupt efforts to fight al Qaeda and other militants.
Chaudhry, the deposed chief justice, addressed about two dozen lawyers gathered inside the Islamabad Bar Association headquarters by telephone. About 200 lawyers protested outside, shouting "Musharraf is a criminal - we will not accept uniforms or bullets!"
Almost immediately after Chaudhry spoke, some mobile phone services in the city were cut. They were back up hours later; it was not clear if the events were related.
Musharraf has promised to restore democracy, but there did not appear to be a unified position among senior Pakistan government officials on when elections would be held.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was chairing a Cabinet meeting Tuesday to try to hammer out the date.
"But it will take some time," said Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, a Cabinet member who is close to Musharraf. He said the president wanted to go ahead with the polls as planned, but "some elements want them to be delayed for a year."
Lawyers were the driving force behind protests earlier this year when Musharraf tried unsuccessfully to fire Chaudhry.
Under the emergency, Musharraf purged the Supreme Court of independent-minded judges. So far, eight judges have taken a new oath. Previously there were 17 judges in the court.
In their first ruling, the eight "set aside" a ruling of seven other rebellious judges, including Chaudhry, who had rejected the emergency as unconstitutional, court spokesman Arshad Muneer said.
The court is expected to resume hearings on Musharraf's eligibility for another presidential term and issue a quick ruling in his favor.
Musharraf also has moved to control the media. Police raided and briefly sealed a printing press belonging to Pakistan's largest media group. Broadcasts by independent news networks remained blocked, and domestic transmissions of BBC and CNN were cut.
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, meanwhile, traveled from Karachi to Islamabad Tuesday, and was to meet with other opposition parties on Wednesday.
Bhutto, who has held inconclusive talks on forging an alliance with Musharraf to fight Islamic extremism, narrowly escaped a massive suicide bombing in Karachi on Oct. 18 that killed 145.
Opposition groups say about 3,500 people have been arrested since Musharraf declared emergency rule Saturday, while government officials put the number at around 2,500. Most detainees are lawyers, although opposition party supporters and rights activists have also been arrested.