Reuters – Pakistan’s former President Pervez Musharraf smiles during a business meeting in New Delhi March …ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered former president Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday to answer questions next week about his decisions to oust the judiciary and impose emergency rule in 2007.
The order, issued by a 14-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, instructs Musharraf to either show up in court himself on July 29 or have an attorney do so on his behalf.
Compliance is not mandatory, but failure to show up will mean Musharraf will have no further chances to defend himself in a case that is aimed at determining whether it was constitutional for him to oust the judiciary and impose emergency rule in November 2007.
The government’s top lawyer said this would be Musharraf’s only opportunity to defend himself.
“We’ve made it clear to the bench that we aren’t prepared to defend him. The government doesn’t consider his actions lawful or constitutional,” Attorney-General Latif Khosa told Reuters after the hearing.
Asked whether criminal proceedings could be started against Musharraf if his actions were declared unconstitutional, Khosa said that would be up to parliament.
“A committee has already been formed to annul his amendments and if it gives the go-ahead, that could happen,” he said.
Musharraf’s moves in late 2007, which included ousting Chaudhry and other judges, triggered nationwide protests and were seen by political opponents as a bid to extend his presidency for another five years.
However, the unpopularity of emergency rule, together with the assassination of rival politician Benazir Bhutto, weakened support for Musharraf, leading to a victory for the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in elections in February 2008.
Musharraf resigned last August in the face of an impending impeachment motion, and he left Pakistan over a month ago for London.
Tags: emergency rule, Pakistan, Pakistan's Supreme Court, Pervez Musharraf
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