Musharraf Does His Double Talk Dance

Musharraf and Dubya are good buddies because of their shared penchant for double-talk. In the Pakistani version of Doublethink Dubya, Musharraf sacks the Supreme Court and places his cronies in charge so they can ratify his election as President, despite his being military chief, forbidden by the Pakistani constitution.
WSJ.com

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's said Pakistan's parliamentary elections will be held by mid-February, a month later than originally planned.


"Elections in Pakistan must be held before Feb. 15, 2008, latest," Gen. Musharraf told a handful of government reporters after a meeting of his National Security Council.


The White House applauded the decision to proceed with elections. "We think it is a good thing that President Musharraf has clarified the election date for the Pakistani people," press secretary Dana Perino said Thursday.


However, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto denounced the pledge as insufficient and said he should step down as army chief within a week.


Gen. Musharraf's announcement was seen as an indication that the state of emergency imposed on Saturday would be short lived because authorities would likely have to ease up on security restrictions to allow campaigning. Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum forecast that the state of emergency would be lifted in "one or two" months, depending on how the situation develops.


Gen. Musharraf, dressed in a business suit rather than his army fatigues, also reaffirmed that he would be sworn in for a new presidential term and quit his post as army chief once the supreme court confirms his disputed victory in last month's presidential election.


The court had been poised to rule on opposition complaints that Gen. Musharraf was ineligible because of a constitutional bar on public servants seeking elected office. Purged of independent-minded judges under the emergency, the court has yet to announce when hearings will resume, though officials have said they want a quick ruling.


Protests against the state of emergency have continued despite being quickly and sometimes brutally put down by the police. In Islamabad, police chased about 20 high-school students into the city's bar association headquarters after they showed up in solidarity with dozens of protesting lawyers, who were observing the fourth day of a nationwide strike. In Lahore, in eastern Pakistan, more than 100 professors boycotted classes and marched on the campus of the state-run University of the Punjab.


Thousands of lawyers and opposition activists have been detained since Gen. Musharraf declared the state of emergency Saturday. Four of those arrested -- three politicians and a labor union activist -- were charged with treason for making anti-government speeches in the southern city of Karachi, a court official said Thursday.