Pakistan

Army General and President Pervez Musharraf delcared a State of Emergency in Pakistan. The Army has imposed Martial Law.

The declaration came only hours before the Supreme court were to announce the legality of Musharraf's reelection. The Supreme Court refused to endorse the declaration. They argued it was unconstitutional. Following the declaration, the Supreme Court was placed in house arrest and a new Chief Justice was appointed.

According to Najam Sethi of Rediff News Musharraf has declared a state of emergency as Army Chief and announced a Provisional Constitutional Order, which only an Army Chief can order. Meanwhile, the Provisional Constitutional Order 'confirms and upholds' Musharraf as President of Pakistan. It demands a new oath from those judges who wish to be part of the new Federal Shariat Court, High Court and Supreme Court. Sethi argues that this will create a pro-executive judiciary within a relatively short amount of time.

Demonstrations are expected from the oppostion. However, with the media blinded and the judiciary temporarily suspended it seems the army and the police will be able to crush the movement. Afterwards, Sethi believes that Musharraf will return the country to a democracy.

It is difficult to associate the terms democracy and dictatorship with one another. Despite the obvious contradiction, the two have gelled in a few countries that have made the proponents of democracy particularly uncomfortable. Recent waves of democracy in many troubled countries gave optimists the brief feeling of relief as accountable governments would be the standard ruling form. However, dictatorships have emerged in some countries under the guise of democratic rule. Today's feature film, Dinner With The President, investigates this curious phenomenon as the Pakistani leadership gets deconstructed by director, Subihar Sumar.

This weekend Pakistan's President and Army General Prevez Musharraf won the elections, after a controversial election campaign.

Musharraf won with a sweeping 152 of a 157 votes from parliament.

Musharraf also promised to take off his uniform before being reinstated in office.

According to the Daily Times of Pakistan Musharraf will have to wait 10 days for the Supreme Court to verify the legality of his re-election.

According to the Daily Times, a Pakistani newspaper, President Pervez Musharraf says that November 15th will be the last day he wears his military uniform.

He also says that staying in uniform after 2004 was necessitated by the regional and domestic political climate.

What else does Musharraf think about democracy in Pakistan?

Watch this.

Meanwhile Adil Nadjam of The Pakistaniat analyzes what will happen in Pakistan if Musharraf indeed gets re-elected. Read the full article here.

Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled today that President Pervez Musharraf (the subject of the Why Democracy? film Dinner with the President) can run in the upcoming elections without giving up his position as head of the country's army.

Buzzvines opines that the decision contradicts the constitution and offers three possible explanations:

"1. The justices and their families were threated to get a favorable verdict
2. The justices will be making a lot of trips to the banks
3. The justices were first allowed to gain the nation's confidence by
the staged drama earlier this year so that when a preposterous verdict
was read the nation would accept the verdict."

On the other side, some commenters on Metroblogging Islamabad are hailing the decision as a sign of the Supreme Court's independence. And cyrilalmedia argues that this decision by no means the final one.

Meanwhile, most sources expect to see former PM Benazir Bhutto return to Pakistan on Oct. 18.

See the latest videos and articles about the upcoming elections in Pakistan on the AFP news site.
"Only these people keep saying that there is no democracy just because of my uniform" (quote from the film Dinner With The President)

While the Pakistani Supreme Court is still discussing whether a further extension of the double post as head of state and military chief for General Pervez Musharraf is unconstitutional, Musharraf himself announced his resignation as army chief by 15 November.

Pakistan's Election Commission amended the Presidential Election Rules so that certain restrictions will not apply to Musharraf. Therefore, he could be re-elected as President of Pakistan within the next few weeks.

Read more about the background of the resignation and Pakistan's political situation on BBC's articles Musharraf to 'quit as army chief', Pakistans crisis 'hits army morale' and Court hears Musharraf challenge. Find a discussion of the political situation as well as background information on Al Jazeera, Bloomberg and in the Indian Times.

Find out what the Pakistani President has to say by watching our documentary "Dinner with the President". Join the global debate in our forums: Are dictators ever good?

Today the Pakistani Supreme Court announced that the term as head of state for General Pervez Musharraf would expire on Nov 15th this year. Despite of that the Attorney General of Pakistan will lead an investigation, wether the double-post of Gen. Musharraf as president and military chief is unconstitutional. Read more about the political situation in International Herald Tribune as well as the legal explanation in Jurist.

Find out what the Pakistani President has to say by watching our documentary "Dinner with the President". More sources on that topic are available via Google News and join the debate in our forums: Are dictators ever good?