Message from Bhutto

TALKING POINTS ON the IMPOSITION OF EMERGENCY RULE:

By suspending the constitution of Pakistan in his capacity as Chief of Army Staff, General Musharraf has extended the life of the present PML (Q) government, extended his tenure, abandoned the trust and responsibility entrusted by the people of Pakistan and the international community to uphold free and fair democratic elections.
Such a declaration amounts to martial law leaving people of Pakistan without fundamental rights. This was an unnecessary pre-emptive measure. The Supreme Court had not yet acted on the legitimacy of General Musharraf's recent election, but in fact, was not expected to act against him. They were expected to ask the General to remove his uniform before taking the oath of office and to require him to have his Presidential vote re-affirmed by the new assembly.
The international community must now stand up for the rule of law and democracy and ensure that the government is held accountable for its actions.
In light of this action, the international community should stand united in its request for General Musharraf to step down (and to remove himself as a stumbling block to democracy). As army chief, sacked the Chief Justice of Pakistan along with other judges, muzzled the press, arrested lawyers to pre-empt a negative court decision expected against him.
While moderate forces in Pakistan continue to fight for democracy, hardliners in the country are angling to gain support and control the country with their own brand of democracy. They have replaced the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and postponed elections indefinitely until Presidential elections are held in the United States . The hardliners believe that a new U.S. president will need at least one year to gain footing, and with this, they believe that they can get at least two years to control the country, drive NATO out of Afghanistan and destabilize President Karzai's government.
With these points in mind, it is imperative that the International Community insist on elections in Pakistan within the next sixty days.
Pakistan must be allowed to continue its fight to secure a truly representative democracy.

ON FORMATION OF NEUTRAL GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS:

As a result, the international community needs to work to establish an independent election commission (while ensuring the resignation of the current members of the Election Commission, including its Secretary and Chief Election Commissioner).
The international community must lend its support to the calls for a neutral caretaker government to be formed with the confidence of all major political parties.
Members of the caretaker government must not be permitted to participate in elections and must not be eligible to be Cabinet members in the Centre or Provinces if their family members are participating in the elections.

ON STRENGTHENING ELECTORAL PROCESSES:

At the All Parties Conference (APC), certain recommendations were made for election reforms. The international community is called upon to support the recommendations made at the conference, including:
- Mayors must be suspended for the duration of the election;
- All parties must be unbiased and unmotivated by politics. These include the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Police Inspector General, Election Commission Secretary, President and interim Prime Minister.
- No improvised voting stations should be allowed. All voting stations should be established at local government schools;
- Retired officers cannot be retained for police or administrative duties;
- Security agencies must not be permitted to influence the electoral process through intimidation tactics or fraud;
- All former military officials within the intelligence agencies, such as the ISI, must be replaced by neutral police officers;
- A non-partisan monitoring body, consisting wholly of civil society, is needed to observe activities at every polling station;
- Transparent election boxes must be used to protect against ballot stuffing and the risks associated with box switching during observer breaks also must be examined.
The ban on twice-elected prime ministers contesting elections should be repealed by the caretaker government, as it is unconstitutional at its core. It was introduced by the regime for the sole purpose of keeping former prime ministers away from contesting elections.

ON THE NATIONAL RECONCILIATION ORDINANCE:

Following the regime's own admission of political victimization, all charges defined in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) must be withdrawn by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) under section 31 of the NAB ordinance. Accordingly, NAB should also submit letters of request to foreign bodies and legal representation and bring politically motivated cases to a close.

These actions should take place under the existing NAB law rather than the NRO, which is still under contention in the Supreme Court. Following the law as outlined by the NAB will ensure a level playing field for all political parties.