Kasuri rules out imposition of martial law in Pakistan
Pti, afp, Washington
Notwithstanding the unabated protests against the suspension of the Chief Justice, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri has ruled out imposition of martial law in the country while conceding that the Pervez Musharraf regime had "underestimated" the public reaction. "...I hope we will never resort to martial law. Martial law is unconstitutional. So when he (Musharraf) has repeatedly said he will work within the confines of the Constitution, I have no reason to doubt that," he said. When asked about the recent protests over the sacking of Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry and if indeed it was a mistake on the part of the government, Kasuri said that "... the government has put up a case which it finds pretty strong, but that's not the issue. The issue is public reaction... probably the government had underestimated the public reaction, because the government thought it was acting according to the Constitution." In an interview with PBS' News Hour, he indicated that Musharraf will give up his military post by the end of the year. "On the issue of the uniform that you asked me, the Constitution allows the president to wear his uniform until the end of 2007. And he has said on many occasions that he will abide by the constitution. Any more concrete answer has to be asked of the president," Kasuri said. The Minister said the US had "full faith" in Musharraf's assertion that he will lead the country to democracy. "They (US) have full faith in the leadership of President Musharraf. And they've told me repeatedly that they believe when the president says that he is the man who's leading to a transition to civil democracy. Meanwhile, the US ambassador-designate to Pakistan said Wednesday she was confident the Islamabad government would accept the Supreme Court's eventual verdict on an appeal by the ousted chief justice. President George W Bush's nominee for the post, Anne Woods Patterson, also said it was unlikely that Pakistan would call a state of emergency as the crisis played out. Patterson was asked by Senator John Kerry during her Senate confirmation hearing if she was confident Pakistan's courts could resolve the crisis over the March 9 ouster of chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. "Yes, we are confident, and confident that the government will stand by the decision," Patterson said, referring to Supreme Court hearings on the case.
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