V0.

General Musharraf has hijacked Pakistan

BY RC, CITIZEN OF PAKISTAN.

November 2007

A - General Musharraf has hijacked Pakistan

Last few months have been very painful for anyone
who has affiliation to Pakistan. The country has been
Table of Content
hijacked by General Musharraf – the second time.
B – Background 4
The Military dictator imposed second martial law on C – Kargil War 5
rd
3 November 2007 and he once again sends the D – Coup d’etat 7
1973 Constitution of Pakistan in abeyance. Hei E – Marshall Law 1 8
F – Post Marshall Law 1 12
announced that citizens of Pakistan have no rights
G – Start of Downfall 37
anymore and he himself is the sole decision maker
H – Marshall Law 2 39
and law maker in the country. Citizens of Pakistan I – Post Marshall Law 2 41
have no right to speak, they have no right to express J – Charges against Gen 54
their opinion, they have no right to demonstrate their K – Demands 57

opposition to his absurd policies, and they have no

right to highlight his oppressive regime‟s torture, kidnapping, and harassments.

In essence, Gen Musharraf announced that the entire 160 million citizens of Pakistan are
incapable and brainless; hence they do not have any right to decide for themselves. Gen
Musharraf is the only smart person in the entire
population of the country who has the capacity to
General Musharraf has hijacked think!
our country. He is neither the
owner of this country nor does he General Musharraf‟s list of crimes is very long and
have any rights over us. He took in last eight years he has destroyed every institution
power by illegal means and broke
of the country, including the Armed Forces. His
away from the oaths he took on his
objective was to make the entire nation submit to
Holy Book.
his whims and desires, and turn them into a slave
mindset that none raise their objection to his
commands. That his command is ultimate order and whosoever objects to it is working
against the country‟s interest. Gen Musharraf makes this analogy that Musharraf is

1
 V0.5

The author has no affiliation with any organization or otherwise, neither does he support the opinions and/or the
positions of any organization, party or group. The paper was written in his capacity as a citizen of Pakistan, and
represent feeling of ordinary citizen. It conveys genuine feeling of abasement, repression, despotism,, despair
and dejection, and to make a request to General, “please leave”. Since, Gen Musharraf insist on interference in
governance of country, rule of law, the constitution, freedom of judiciary, political landscape, and freedom of
press and media, inadvertently, this paper becomes political in nature. By reading this paper you agree to
indemnify and hold us harmless or our affiliates from any claim or demand, due to or arising out of this paper.

Pakistan and Pakistan is Musharraf, and whoever criticizes him is in essence criticizing
Pakistan, and whoever object to his oppressive regime is in fact working to disintegrate
Pakistan.

I would like to highlight to everyone that Gen

General Musharraf is a compulsive
Musharraf has hijacked our country. He is neither
liar. He has taken oaths and
the owner of this country nor does he have any deviated; He has promised the
rights over us. He took power by illegal means and entire nations many times and
broke away from the oath he took on his Holy broke away from it. He has no
credibility and trust of citizens of
Book. He violated the Constitution of Pakistan
Pakistan. He must be removed.
many times, or sends the Constitution to abeyance
many a times. Gen Musharraf has no respect for
Law and Constitution, and he deprived the entire
nation of their basic rights as citizen. He mauled the Constitution by constantly issuing
self-proclaimed laws under General‟s Orders. When people refused to accept his utter
contempt of Constitution, he would install Marshall Laws, or
emergency orders. People of Pakistan have been agonized, the
Constitution have been agonized.

When the citizens went to court to seek justice, Gen

Pakistan's President Pervez
Musharraf wiping his face and neck
during a news conference in
Islamabad November 11, 2007,
after he imposed yet another
Marshall Law in Pakistan
Musharraf laughed at them. He told the Judges to decide in his
favor and if they don‟t --- Well, then he would simply change
the rules of the game. He will issue a new General‟s Order.
And if people feel that‟s illegal, then he will cross the Law
itself. “I never did anything illegal” – claims Gen Musharraf.
That is correct, the Law did not exist when he committed
crimes – it was in abeyance. And when brave citizens took
him to Supreme Court, he took the Court out.

2
 V0.5

“Is democracy more important than Pakistan?” Gen Musharraf questions. “When the
nation is about to be declared a failed state, tell me whether the (restoration) of so-called
democracy is important or efforts to save the country,” he asked and then himself replied:
“Of course it is important to save the country.”

Ironically, it is the same „so-called democracy‟ that was declared „true-democracy‟ by

General himself. Gen Musharraf needs no reminder; he installed first Marshall Law in
‟99 to establish this „true-democracy‟. This man has many faces. Unfortunately, none is
trustworthy.

Gen Musharraf is a compulsive liar; He has taken oaths and deviated; He has promised
the entire nations many times and broke away from it. He has no credibility and trust of
citizens of Pakistan. He has no legal or moral ground to be the Ruler of the Country, or
does he has any legal or moral ground to hold The Office of President, Executive or in
any capacity to govern or rule the People of Pakistan. The only legal position he ever had
is to “serve” the country in his capacity as General of Army, for which he has already
overstayed his normal term.

Gen Musharraf declared himself as the law, the judge, the judiciary and the executioner.
He decides who lives, he decides who stay in jail, he decides who speaks, he decides who
can open his shop, he decides who can do business, and if anyone disagree, his army of
agencies ready to frighten you, or the cops ready to torture you and insult your family,
and if you still disagree his special agents ever ready to kidnap you and lock you in the
one of the worst chambers on planet earth.

Purpose of this second Marshall Law is very simple. Gen

20-nov-07. Bush: Musharraf is 'Man
of His Word'. – AFP Report
US continue its policy of supporting
dictators.
Musharraf wants to remain in power, either by hook or by
crook. Since, there is no Constitutional way to keep a
dictator in power, thus it demands an Extra Constitutional
measure to keep him in power. Gen Musharraf long
identified Judiciary as his biggest obstacle to continue his
illegitimate rule. Nine Months before his illegal term expires,
he hatched a plot to overthrow judiciary to clear the way to
continue his illegal rule. Fortunately, for people of Pakistan,
the judiciary did not give in this time. During the sixty years
of history of the country, it was the first time ever that the

3
 V0.5

judiciary stood up to a General‟s Order. They refused to certify his illegitimate rule –
Nine months is what it takes to create a General – Nine months is what it took for a
General to be exposed. People of Pakistan have waited for sixty long years for Law to
rise. As the Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry rightly puts it, “if we don‟t take this
opportunity now, we will not have it for next sixty year”.

I urge everyone domestically and internationally to stop supporting Gen Musharraf in any
capacity, shape or form. He has subjugated entire country, every institution, every
civilian organization. I urge that you work towards removing him from his illegitimate
office, and return the country to a Constitution and Law that was agreed by the people of
Pakistan. Demand the restoration of Constitution and the Judiciary as it stands prior to
Gen Musharraf‟s illegitimate Marshall Law on 3rd Nov 07. Gen Musharraf is not
acceptable to the citizens of Pakistan in any role of “ruler”, be it as Executive or
President. He has no legitimacy or moral ground to claim it.

B - Background
General Pervez Musharraf was born on August 11, 1943 in Delhi (British India), and later
migrated to Pakistan with his parents after the ‟47 partition. Musharraf claimed in his
book “In the line of fire” that he attended Saint Patrick's School, Karachi, graduating in
1958, later attending Forman Christian College in Lahore.

His official biography claims he is a graduate of Command

and Staff College, Quetta and the National Defense College.
He joined the Pakistan Military Academy in 1961 and was
commissioned in an elite Artillery Regiment in 1964. He saw
action in the 1965 war as a young officer in the Khem Karan,
In happier times, PM Nawaz Sharif
Lahore and Sialkot sectors with a self propelled Artillery
and Gen Pervez Musharraf
Regiment. He was awarded the Imtiaz-i-Sanad for gallantry.
He later volunteered and served for seven years in the Special Service Group
"Commandos". He also participated in the 1971 war as Company Commander in a
Commando Battalion. He was promoted to Major General on 15th January 1991, and to
the rank of General on 7th October 1998 and appointed Chief of Army Staff. He was
given the additional charge of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee on 9th April
1999ii.

4
 V0.5

General Musharraf rose to top job in 1998 when Pakistan's powerful army chief, General
Jehangir Karamat, resigned two days after calling for the army to be given a key role in
the country's decision-making process. It was first time that an army chief stepped down
from his position. It was considered by some observers as sign of Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif‟s political power and perhaps finally there are assurances of long term civilian
administration in the country. Nawaz Sharif controversially promoted Gen Musharraf
over two others Lieutenant Generals who were more senior than Musharraf. This was
even admitted by Gen Musharraf in his book. He was superseded over Lt. Gen Ali Kuli
Khan and Lt. Gen Khalid Nawaz.

C - Kargil war
Kargil lies on the line of control facing Pakistan Controlled Kashmir's region of Baltistan.
Kargil conflict took place between Jul-May in 1999 between Pakistan and Indian in
Kargil, a district of Kashmir. After the explosion of nuclear
devices by India and Pakistan and increased tension between
the two countries, General Musharraf was regularly seen
giving briefing on media and appearing on state television.
He was the first to claim that Pakistan troops had entered the
Indian-administered sector during the fighting. Previously,
Pakistan stated that the forces had all been Islamic militants
determined to take territory from the other side of the Line of Control. There was
growing gap between the army and the Pakistan government. Gen Musharraf claimed that
militants were preventing Indian gains, he and other senior generals were reportedly
increasingly angry at the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif‟s attempts to find a diplomatic
way out of the crisis. Mr Sharif's moves led to speculation that the military did not have
the full political backing of the government and he eventually ordered a full withdrawal.

Following the order to withdraw, Gen Musharraf told the BBC that the crisis had been a
"great success" for Pakistan. In contrast, India's ruling BJP party sought to make electoral
capital out of what it saw as a great military victoryiii.

Gen Musharraf was widely credited as master mind behind the Kargil Conflict. This was
echoed widely in Indian and international media and political arena. Musharraf claimed
that he „informed‟ the then prime minister. In his book, Musharraf terms it a successful
operation which according to him brought the dispute over the scenic Himalayan state of

5
 V0.5

Kashmir once again into the limelight and compelled India to return to talks. According
to the General it was the Kargil operation which precipitated the composite dialogue
process between the nuclear-armed Pakistan and India. Contrary to that, Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif claimed that none was aware of it, even in the army except Gen Musharraf
and few of his close allies. He noted that “Gen Musharraf is a very impulsive man, erratic
in behavior and not a very stable person.”iv. Gen (retd) Ali Kuli Khan (retired former
chief of Military Intelligence) say that the Kargil operation was flawed in terms of its
conception, tactical planning and execution, in
which a large number of Pakistani soldiers laid
down their lives. “It is also fairly obvious that the
Kargil Operations were not
Gen (retd) Ali Kuli Khan stated that “in his book conceived in its totality, with the
Gen Musharraf decides to step into the biggest result that apart from bringing

minefield when he brazenly refers to the Kargil ignominy to Pakistan it also caused
unnecessary misery to a lot of
Operations as "considered purely, in military terms,
innocent people” – Gen Ali Kuli
the Kargil Operations were a landmark in the
history of Pakistan Army". I am totally amazed at
such ostrich-like behavior when the whole world considers Kargil to be the worst debacle
in Pakistan's history and where countless innocent young lives were lost for nothing.
Absolutely nothing!”

He argued that Gen Musharraf tried to divert the blame to political leadership. However,
allegations can only be made when one‟s own work is above par. Gen Ali Kuli stated that
he regret to say that the conception and planning at the highest level had been poor; in
fact so poor that the only word which can adequately describe it is unprofessional. We all
know that the main duty of the high command is to ensure that with their meticulous
planning they create conditions whereby their junior combatants can fight easy. This was
certainly not done at Kargil. It is also fairly obvious that the Kargil Operations were not
conceived in its totality, with the result that apart from bringing ignominy to Pakistan it
also caused unnecessary misery to a lot of innocent people. The account of General
Musharraf regarding Kargil is inconsistent and has raised more questions than it has
answered! We must have a full blown independent inquiry into the Kargil debaclev.

6
 V0.5

D - First coup d’etat – October ‘1999

Gen Musharraf took control of the country on October 12, 1999 with
October
coup d'etat against the then elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,
1999
thereby giving himself the title of Chief Executive.

Gen Musharraf‟s first coming is attributed by most observers to heightened tension, after
nuclear explosion, on Kashmir front followed by Kargil incident. The disagreement
between Gen Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif centered around Prime Minister's desire to
find a diplomatic resolution to the Kargil conflict with India. Following Musharraf's
withdrawal of Pakistani troops from Kargil in Kashmir, he was on a flight home from Sri
Lanka. He claims that Sharif ordered his dismissal and the plane's diversion into the
hands of Musharraf's enemies. From the cockpit, Musharraf assembled his military
forces. He was filmed at Karachi airport, dressed in combat fatigues, with cigarette and
pistol. Three days later, dressed in a suit, he made his first
address as the country's new leadervi.

Mian Nawaz Sharif‟s action on October 12, 1999 for

stopping the plane of Gen Musharraf the COAS and
CJCSC of the country from landing is condemnable act,
and it was certainly inappropriate. Later, Gen Musharraf
returned the favor by not allowing Nawaz Sharif and his Watched by foreign journalists, troops
brother to enter the country. Both of these actions are seized the state TV station – Oct „99

equally criminal, illegal and immoral, and neither can be

justified.

It was a 17 hour operation to carry out military coup and take over the power. In fact the
real action was only in last hour, where Gen Musharraf rallied his troops and took over
Karachi airport to land. And not so surprisingly, the army showed how well they were
prepared to take over from civilian government at very short notice.

Events began when Gen Musharraf, on an official visit to Sri Lanka, received intelligence
that tension between the prime minister and himself had finally reached a head. Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif and intelligence Chief General Ziauddin, secretly met in
Islamabad and move against him. On his landing he will be taken into custody and
presented as a "retirement" and Gen Ziauddin would step into the most powerful job in
the Pakistani military.

7
 V0.5

However, Back in Islamabad, chief of the general staff Lieutenant-General Mohammed

Aziz, and head of the 10th Corps Lieutenant-General Mahmood Ahmed, began plans to
mobilize troops stationed in nearby Rawalpindi.

Nawaz Sharif formally appointed Gen Ziauddin at his official residence at 1540 that
afternoon. But things went wrong from here, as Gen Ziauddin could not find a single
commander to accept his command. Between them, they decided that they have to stop
Musharraf from landing. Gen Ziauddin ensured Nawaz that he can control army if
Musharraf is stopped from landing at Karachi. Nawaz Sharif agreed to the high-stakes
plan and at about 1600, his staff officially announced Gen Musharraf's retirement.

It was all the excuse the army high command needed and
an hour later troops from 111 Brigade of the 10th Corps
were on their way to Islamabad. They quickly took over
TV stations and captured Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Back in Karachi Airport Gen Musharraf kept the plan

Troops surrounded Karachi airport circling the airport until the army took over, after which
where Gen Musharraf was landing –
Oct „99
plane landed. He charged later that Nawaz Sharif ordered
the flight to be sent to Nawabshah in Sindh province
where, it is believed, the prime minister had dispatched his own jet and security team to
take the general into custody.vii

E - Gen Musharraf Proclaims First Marshall Law

Hours after overthrowing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif government, Gen Musharraf
addressed the nation. He proclaimed his rule and that the Armed forces have moved in as
last resort in the interest of countryviii.

The text of emergency was no different that repeated many times before – “The
Constitution of Pakistan shall remain in Abeyance” and “the whole country is under
Army Control”.

He claimed that the Constitution has only been temporarily held in abeyance. This is not
martial law, only another path toward democracy. He said this back in 1999, and he will
replay this record again in 2007.

8

That The armed forces have no intention to stay in charge any longer than is absolutely
necessary to pave the way for true democracy to flourish in Pakistan
Policy objectives – 7 point agenda / promises
Gen Musharraf set out infamous 7 point agenda for
himself:
“My
dear countrymen, our aims and objectives
shall be:
1. Rebuild national confidence and morale;
2. Strengthen federation, remove inter-provincial
disharmony and restore national cohesion;
3. Revive [the] economy and restore investors'
confidence;
4. Ensure law and order and dispense speedy
justice;
5. Depoliticize state institutions;
6. Devolution of power to the grassroots level; and
lastly,
7. Ensure swift ... accountability. ...
”
World will witness which of these seven points he
achieved in his solo rule. All of these promises will
be broken in time to come. Some of the promises he
made during his speech are following:
Appointment of Government:
“All these appointments shall be made purely on
9
V0.5
Musharraf’s Proclamation of First
Marshall Law
In pursuance of deliberations and
decisions of chiefs of staff of the
Armed Forces and corps commanders
of Pakistan Army, I General Pervez
Musharraf, chairman joint chiefs of
staff committee and chief of army
staff, proclaim emergency throughout
Pakistan and assume the office of the
chief executive of the Islamic Republic
of Pakistan. I hereby order and
proclaim as follows:
The constitution of the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan shall remain in
abeyance
The president of Pakistan shall
continue in office
The National Assembly, the provincial
assemblies and Senate shall stand
suspended
The chairman and deputy chairman of
the Senate, the speaker and deputy
speaker of the National Assembly and
the provincial assemblies shall stand
suspended
The prime minister, the federal
ministers, ministers of state, advisers
to the prime minister, parliamentary
secretaries, the provincial governors,
the provincial chief ministers, the
provincial ministers and the advisers
to the chief ministers shall cease to
hold office
The whole of Pakistan will come under
the control of the Armed Forces of
Pakistan.
This proclamation shall come into
force at once and be deemed to have
taken effect on the 12th day of
October, 1999.
 V0.5

the basis of professional competence, merit and repute.”

A promise that he will never fulfilled. He will make every appointment based on personal
bias, handpicking the person who gives most allegiance to his rule.

Economy:

“To revitalize our economy, in addition to measures like recovery of the looted national
wealth - a task that will ruthlessly be pursued - I am identifying policy guidelines,
some of which are: rebuilding of investors' confidence through stability and consistency
in economic policy and economic security - the objective is to encourage the local
investors, overseas Pakistanis, and foreign investors; increase domestic savings; carry out
pragmatic tax reforms; turn around state enterprises toward profitability; boost agriculture

and revive industry; strict austerity measures..”

Economic Policy Objectives: Gen Musharraf set forward four major policy objectives on
the economic front.

1. First, to stabilize the country‟s debt situation with a view to restoring macroeconomic
stability.

2. Second, to revive economic growth and restore investor confidence.

3. Third, to arrest the rising trends in poverty and,

4. Fourth, to improve governance.

Accountability:

“The process of accountability is being directed especially toward those guilty of

plundering and looting the national wealth and tax evaders. It is also directed toward loan
defaulters and those who have had their loans rescheduled or condoned. The process of
accountability will be transparent for the public to see. My advice to the guilty is to
return voluntarily national wealth, bank loans, and pay their taxes before the hand of law

forces them to do so with penalty.”

10
 V0.5

He will later established National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and used it as a tool to
keep opposition out of political arena. On October 3rd, 2007 the National Reconciliation
Ordinance 2007 was promulgated by Gen Musharraf to withdraw all corruption cases
registered in NAB against political affiliates and Benazir Bhutto that were registered
between Jan 1, 1986, and Oct 12, 1999. Benazir was biggest beneficiary, others included
Altaf Hussain (MQM Chief) and Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao (Musharaf‟s Interior
Minister) and various members of government political affiliatesix.

Media:

“I have great regard and respect for the media. I

trust it to play a positive and constructive role. I
am a firm believer in the freedom of the press and
I am even considering liberalizing the policy on
the establishment of private television and radio

channels.”

This claimed became total farce after his

outrageous attack on Media and Press. He
shutdown every TV channel, except that the TV
channel give allegiance to his rule.

Some of the mainstream News Channels like Geo

TV and ARY One World were still blacked out at Gen Mushrarraf‟s great regard and respect for press
and media is highlighted by these pictures – Nov
the time of writing this paper.
„07

Kashmir:

“The people of Kashmir have made great sacrifices for the achievement of their rights
promised to them by the United Nations. We shall continue our unflinching moral,
political, and diplomatic support to our Kashmiri brethren in their struggle to achieve
their right of self-determination.

India must honor the UN resolutions and its own commitment to the people of
Kashmir. It must also end its repression of the Kashmiri people and respect their

fundamental human rights.”

11
 V0.5

Gen Musharraf will back track on his promise and he himself will not honor the UN
resolution. “Pakistan would give up its claim on Kashmir”- “Pakistan is prepared to forgo
its claim on the disputed territory of Kashmir” said Gen Musharrafx.

F - Post First Marshall Law activities

General’s first strike at Judiciary – 2000

December Immediately taking over the control of power and removing

2000 constitution, Gen Musharraf issued order for Supreme Court judges to
take fresh oath. The order called “Oath of Office (Judges) Order,
2000”xi is order issued by then Chief Executive of Pakistan Gen Pervez Musharraf. It
required the judges to take a fresh oath of office swearing allegiance to military rule.
Judges must swear that they will make no decisions against the military rule.

Read the text of this Order on the following page and judge for yourself.

Many judges including Chief Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui and 13 Supreme Court
judges including Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, Justice Wajeehuddin Ahmed refused to take
the fresh oath and all of them were dismissed by General Musharraf.

With this action, Gen Musharraf broke away from his 7-point agenda. He engaged in
politicizing and interfering in the Judiciary, obstructing the law and justice, and not
allowing devolution of power to grass root level. Hence, he left no room for swift
accountability or any accountability for that matter.

In fact, it will be observed throughout his solo-rule that he continuously worked to

consolidate power for his own position. When he is Army chief, he moved all powers
there. When he became Chief Executive, he delegated powers to CE, when he became
President, he delegated powers to President. Gen Musharraf made fool out of the nation
and he kept toying with Constitution and Judiciary throughout his solo-rule.

Chief Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui noted in an interview: “I was the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court in October 1999 when Gen Musharraf took power. He came to see me
at my official residence and I advised him of two things. First, to refrain from interfering
in the working of the judiciary, and second, not to try and amend the constitution because
this power cannot be given to an individual. It is to be exercised by an elected parliament.
But the last time I met him he informed me that he wanted the judges to take a new oath.

12
 V0.5

I refused to do this. I felt that this whole process had been repeated too many times and it
was time to take a stand. However, I could not get all the judges to stand behind me and
while six of us took a stand, seven judges took the new oath”xii.

“The judiciary is not independent and cannot be in the circumstances. There is no

Excerpts from TEXT of Oath of Office (Judges) Order, 2000:

No. 2-2/2000-Min. I.-WHEREAS in pursuance of the Proclamation of Emergency of the fourteenth day of
October, 1999, and the Provisional Constitution Order No. 1 of 1999, as amended, the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been held in abeyance;
WHEREAS Pakistan is to be governed, as nearly as may be, in accordance with the Constitution and the Chief
Executive has and shall be deemed always to have had, the power to amend the Constitution;
WHEREAS all Courts in existence immediately before the commencement of this Order have been continued to
function and to exercise their respective powers and jurisdiction; subject to the Proclamation of Emergency
and Provisional Constitution Order No. 1 of 1999 as amended.
AND WHEREAS to enable the judges of the Superior Courts to discharge their functions, it is necessary that they
take Oath of their office;
2. Interpretation.-In this Order, "Superior Court" means the Supreme Court of Pakistan or a High Court or the
Federal Shariat Court and "Judge" includes Chief Justice.
3. Oath of Judges.-(1) A person holding office immediately before the commencement of this Order as a judge
of Superior Court shall not continue to hold that office if he is not given, or does not make, Oath in the form set
out in the Schedule, before the expiration of such time from such commencement as the Chief Executive may
determine or within such further time as may be allowed by the Chief Executive.
(2) A judge of Superior Court appointed after the commencement of this order shall, before entering upon
office, make Oath in the form set out in the Schedule.
(3) A person referred to in clauses (1) and (2) who has made oath as required by these clauses shall be bound
by the provisions of this Order, the Proclamation of Emergency of the fourteenth day of October, 1999 and the
Provisional Constitution Order No. 1 of 1999 as amended and, notwithstanding any judgment of any court, shall
not call in question or permit to be called in question the validity of any of the provisions thereof.
(4) A judge of Supreme Court or Federal Shariat Court shall make the oath before the President/Chief
Executive or a person nominated by him and a judge of High Court shall make the oath before the Governor or
a person nominated by him.
4. The Chief Executive may, for the purpose of removing any difficulties, or for bringing the provisions of this
Order into effective operation, make such provisions as he may deem to be necessary or expedient.

security of tenure for judges. Whenever, a military ruler takes over, a new oath is
administered to the judges. There is no respect for the constitution which is the highest
law of the land” – CJ (retd) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui.

Refer to following for the text of Oath of Office (Judges) Order, 2002:

 Oath of Office (Judges) Order, 2000 (1 of 2000) (dated 25-1-2000).

@ http://www.pakistanconstitution-law.com/appendix13.asp

13
 V0.5

September 11, 2001 – Riding the wave to legitimize rule

Gen Musharraf was one of the biggest beneficiary of September 11 event. Prior to it, he
was struggling to get legitimacy for his doctorial (Marshall Law) rule in International
Community. This event gave him the opportunity to legitimize his rule. However, this is
also a fact that because of his weak position due to illegal rule, he had no choice but to
comply with US demands.

Gen Musharraf later claimed in his book that Bush administration threatened to send
Pakistan to Stone Age. “The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, „Be
prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age‟.” xiii

Within days of 9/11 President Musharraf cut his government‟s

ties to the Taleban regime in Afghanistan and co- operated
with US. In return, Bush administration showered him with
cash and praise.

In his address to nation, Gen Musharraf often use excuse that

The US allegedly ordered Pakistan “we saved our country”, or “Pakistan first” and we had to save
to crush dissent
Pakistan, we made this decision to save Pakistan, otherwise
they would bomb us to Stone Age. These are typical delusional theories to satisfy self
consciousness. If one person makes the most difficult decision in the history of country,
especially from a weak position he held, these kinds a delusions are not abnormal. If such
decisions are presented to council of people, would they make the same decision?.

It seems Gen Musharraf sacrificed Afghanistan to save his country. Did that save Iraq? or
will that save Iran? Divide and rule has always been a prevailing theory amongst
invaders. The new dimension that has been added to it is in the „rule‟ part, i.e. divide
them, but don‟t rule them directly. The modern invaders use a proxy dictator to rule. This
way they don‟t get attention of hate and rage generated by the oppressed people.
Importantly it allows them flexibility to disown the crimes committed in the process by
disowning the dictator at later stage – how else can we describe Saddam Hussein.

And to Gen Musharraf‟s claim, has he really saved the country? He has brought country
to a state of total failure. None of the institute is functioning except that they are
subjugated to single mans desires. There is no law in the country; most of the Law is
„house-arrested‟, and people have no hope to receive any justice. The bombs are
exploding all over the country, thanks to Gen Musharraf‟s internal policies. In his early

14
 V0.5

speech after he took over power, he promised to restore “harmony” – or I am taking over
for “nation building task” – so far all he managed to do is create disharmony and disunite
the nation.

The interference from external country has reached to such extend that delegates from
foreign countries poured in before making key decision. Phone calls are received with
specific directives. Explanations and detailed programs are discussed during these visits
and calls. The US and UK were always part of interference, but the latest country joined
is Saudi Arabia. Is this „saving the country‟ and „nation building”? or shall we call it
“selling the country” and “disharmony”?.

Gen Musharraf should answer us;”What honor has left in the nation”?.

It is important to mention following verse of Quran for Gen Musharraf:

29:41 “The example of those who take allies other than Allah is like that of the spider
who takes a home. And indeed, the weakest of homes is the home of the spider, if they
only knew.”

Enlightened moderation and Ataturkism

We will keep the discussion and context of this topic only to Pakistan and without
discussion on Islam.

The so called theory of Enlightened Moderationxiv propagated by Gen Musharraf so often

is two-pronged strategy, as stated by the Gen:

1. One part to be delivered by the Muslim World is to shun militancy, extremism and
adopting the path of socio-economic uplift.

2. The other part to be delivered by the West, and the US in particular, must aim at
resolutely resolving all political disputes with justice and also assisting in the socio-
economic uplift of the deprived Muslim World

“The root cause of extremism and militancy lies in political injustice, denial and
deprivation”. He further elaborates, “Political injustice to a nation or a people when

15
 V0.5

combined with stark poverty and illiteracy makes the explosive mix leading towards an
acute sense of deprivation, hopelessness and powerlessness”.

At this point, one must ask the Gen, who is depriving the nation with “political injustice”
(we will keep the discussion to Pakistan)? Is this the west that declared Mashall Law
twice, sack the judiciary, shut the press, and lockup the entire political leadership?

Preaching is good only when you practice it yourself.

These actions of Gen Musharraf were further aggravated by his illegal kidnapping and
extra judicial killings in various part of the country, especially in the north and
Waziristan, and followed by live on-air genocide at Red Mosque has created “an acute
sense of deprivation, hopelessness and powerlessness” in the entire country.

Gen Musharraf further added “A people suffering from a combination of all these lethal
ills are easily available cannon fodder for the propagation of militancy and the
perpetration of extremist, terrorist acts”.

Thanks for letting us know. This is the State of Nation on November 2007. Who do we
blame? The cannon fodder, or Gen Musharraf for bringing us here?

Gen Musharraf further says “We have had a glorious past. Islam exploded on the world
scene as flag bearer of a just, lawful, tolerant and value oriented society”.

All of these values ceased to exists in Pakistan on November 3rd 2007, when Gen
Musharraf announced his latest Marshall Law by sending Constitution to abeyance,
locking up the Justice in their houses, and showering intolerance by jailing every
opponent in the country. Furthermore, new values were devised by claiming Immunity
for himself through a PCO signed by himself? Are these the values of any decent society?

He further stated that “The Armies of Islam did not march forward to convert people to
Islam through the sword, despite what perceptions may be, but to deliver them from the
darkness they were under, through the visible example of their virtues. What better
projection can be found of these deeper values of Islam than the personal example of our
Holy Prophet (PBUH) who personified justice, compassion, tolerance of others,
generosity of spirit, austerity with a spirit of sacrifice, and a burning desire for raising
humanity to a better world. The Muslim World today is distant from all these values. We
have been left far behind in social, moral and economic development.”

16
 V0.5

One must correct the facts for General. The armies of Islam are not on the march. It is
opposite of that, the Muslim countries are invaded and occupied. Muslim Armies are not
going out to kill others. It is the opposite of that, others are coming to their land to kill
them. The Muslims are not trying to convert people through sword. It is the opposite of
that, others and their proxies are trying to convert Muslims to become Ataturk. We are
left far behind in economic and scientific development, not because we wanted to, but
because the invaders and their proxy-dictator are not letting the nation building task.
They are not allowing people to have freedom, freedom of speech and freedom of choice.

One of the qualities of dictator is that he never allows knowledge and information to
flow, except what is beneficial to his own rule. Because it‟s detrimental to his rule.
Learned people ask questions, learned people ask their rights, learned people are able to
criticize policies, and learned people do not allow themselves to be subjugated.

In eight year rule of Gen Musharraf, he did not allow any civilian institute to get strength.
He interfered in every institute and he ensured that there is no resistance to his rule from
any one.

Gen Musharraf explained „extremism‟ as state of mind, when a person tries to impose his
opinion on others. “Extremism reflects rigidity of mind, wherein the extremists force,
particularly their views on religion, on others and those with such extreme views ..”

The solo person who is trying to impose his opinion on the entire nation is Gen
Musharraf (marhsall-law 1, marshall-law 2, solo-lfo, solo-17th amendment, solo-pco, “I
decided”, “I have imposed”), and now he is imposing his „enlightened moderation
religious doctrine‟. We rest our case here.

Expending on his EM doctrine, Gen Musharraf also took the line that either you are
enlightened moderate, or you are with extremist. He divided the nation into a new sect.
Those who are „enlightened‟ and rest who are „extremist‟. This created massive
disharmony in the country. No one before Musharraf tried to divide the nation on these
lines, especially when there is no definition of what this enlightened Muslim look like.
Does this Muslim pray?, does he fast?, does he stay away from obscenity?, does
enlightened Muslim read Quran, understand it and implement it? And if he doesn‟t, is he
still Muslim or Enlightened for that matter? Does Enlightened Muslim live by Shariah?

17
 V0.5

Rigged Referendum – April 30th, 2002

April The purpose of referendum was to legitimize Gen Musharraf‟s rule and
instill himself as President of Pakistan for five year term. Remember
2002
this for later part of story, as Gen Musharraf will repeat the same show
in 2007 to get another five year term.

After implementing Marshall Law, Gen Musharraf

assumed the title of Chief Executive of Pakistan, and
Presidency was kept with President Rafiq Tarar. Gen
Musharraf claimed he is doing it only to get the
country out of turmoil and he has no personal interest
to hold the position of leadership. Later, he sacked
President Rafiq Tarar to make way for himself to
Referendum question: "For the
survival of the local government
system, establishment of
democracy, continuity of reforms,
end to sectarianism and extremism,
and to fulfill the vision of Quaid-i-

legitimize his own rule. Azam, would you like to elect

President General Pervez
Before the general elections of „02, a referendum was Musharraf as President of Pakistan
for five years?”.
held on April 30, 2002 for Gen Musharraf to be
elected as the President of Pakistan for another five
years term. Officially, Gen Musharraf wanted to abide by “democratic principles and
establish legitimacy for his rule”, though in the Constitution there was no provision to
become President through referendum.

Once again, (app ki tabedar) Supreme Court of Pakistan dismissed all petitions
challenging the holding of the referendum declaring it was a valid exercise under the
Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO).

Gen Musharraf claimed that his staying is necessary for the country for economic
recovery, to ensure social stability, to counter unnamed destabilizing influences, and to
eventually return to "true democracy". A claim he will repeat again in ‟07.

Referendum was opposed by all parties, except the king‟s party. 15 party alliance was
created under the name of ARD (Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy), mainly led
by PPP and PML-N.

The referendum question put forward to the people was: "For the survival of the local
government system, establishment of democracy, continuity of reforms, end to

18
 V0.5

sectarianism and extremism, and to fulfill the vision of Quaid-i-Azam, would you like to
elect President General Pervez Musharraf as President of Pakistan for five years?”

According to the government there were 78 million eligible voters. 87,000 polling
stations were set up, including booths set up at prisons, hospitals, petrol stations,
workplaces, and markets. However, there were no voter lists or constituencies, and
anyone who could prove his identity and age could vote at any polling station. Rules
relaxed so people could vote without their national identity card if they had other proof of
who they arexv.

Gen Musharraf claimed landslide victory. The ECP claimed nearly 43.9 million votes
were polled Results announced claimed to be 98% in favor of Gen Musharraf with 70%
turnaround! 2% discount was only allowed for any possible future improvements in
similar endorsements.

Political parties boycotted the referendum. No one was allowed to express opinion
against the referendum. Holding public meeting, rallying or demonstrations, were all but
banned.

The opposition political parties claimed that the turnout was merely 5 to 10 percent.
Newspaper reports alleged massively rigged polling and a low turnout as against the
claims made by the government. Human Right organizations and independent observers,
including the non-governmental Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and
Pakistani journalists, found evidence of widespread fraud and coerced voting. Electoral
rolls and national identification cards were dispensed with, ballots were routinely cast in
the presence of, or even by, polling officials, and observers reported numerous cases of
multiple voting. Police and local government officials in all four provinces transported
busloads of voters to polling stations. Most disturbing were claims by both public and
private sector employees, cited in the Pakistani press, that they had cast "yes" votes on
the orders of their supervisorsxvi. The vast majority of voters fell in the category of
'captive voters' - prisoners (voting inside prisons was claimed to be 100 per cent), state
and local bodies employees, factory workers (who were driven to the polling booths
located within the factory premises in controlled batches). Voluntary turn-out was very
low. The voters marshalled by local councilors enjoyed the freedom to vote as many
times as they wished.

19
 V0.5

Following Report from Human Rights Commission of Pakistan presents a detailed

account of rigging that occurred in this referendum:

 http://www.hrcpelectoralwatch.org/referendum.cfm

This Referendum was named “The April Fool Referendum” by many. No legitimacy can
be drawn from such a shameful display of utter contempt of Constitution and fooling the
entire nation.

LFO – The (il)Legal Framework Order – August 2002

August The Legal Framework Order, 2002 (LFO)xvii was unilaterally issued by
2002 President Pervez Musharraf in August 2002. It paved the way for
General Election ‟02, however, the order with passed with various
amendment to the Constitutionxviii.

In summary, LFO empowered Gen Musharraf with following illegitimate rights:

1. Firstly, it confirmed Gen Musharraf status as President of Pakistan for five year term
(to end in August, 2007 which will result in another turmoil).

2. Secondly, it gave Gen Musharraf authority to unilaterally dismiss the government and
the national and provincial parliaments.

3. Thirdly, establishing of National Security Council, dominated by military officers that

will hold more power over any elected representative parliament member.

4. Fourthly, it restored Article 58(2)(b) of the Constitution, originally introduced by Gen

Zia-ul-Haq to allow him powers to dismiss the National Assembly at will, and which
was repealed by Act of Parliament in 1997.

5. Fifth, it amendments circumscribe freedom of association and the right of individuals

to stand for elected office, and introduce new criterion for eligibility for election
candidates.

6. Finally, LFO validated all orders and laws promulgated by Gen Musharraf, as well as
all actions taken by persons acting pursuant to them, and declared that they "shall not
be called into question in any court on any ground whatsoever."

20
 V0.5

Officially, NSC was institute that will serve as a consultative body on strategic matters
and advise on democracy, governance and inter-provincial harmony. In practice, it was
clearly Musharraf's unwillingness to restore genuine civilian rule and keep the control
within Military circles.

Similarly, Article 58(2)(b) was termed as process of Checks and Balances. In practice, it
was a political tool to dismiss any civilian rule that disobeys Gen Musharraf‟s command.

The new eligibility criteria required candidates to at least hold Bachelor‟s degree for
election of National Assembly and Senate. This was instrumental to removing majority of
candidates, given country‟s poor educational record and infra. LFO also disqualified
criminal convicts, defaulters on loans and utility bills, and absconders from court
proceedings. This order was the most effective political tool to rid most opposition
leadership. It was designed to ensure the disqualification of former prime ministers
Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, who were the leader of largest political parties. Both
were first booked in various cases under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO)xix
promulgated.

NAO in conjunction with the new eligibility criteria has been most effective political tool
of Gen Musharraf‟s solo-rule to keep any opposition out of the game.

The last amendment legalized all illegal action of Gen Musharraf past, present, and future
activities. He was granted immunity that not even the Prophets enjoyed. All of military
abuses, extra judicial kills, tortures and harassments were legalized.

LFO was passionately protested and rejected by majority of opposition parties, legal
fraternity and Bar Councils:

PPP rejects constitutional amendments, “The PPP rejects the National Security Council
as a body of checks and balances over the elected government and institutions of
democracy... It is a device to re-write the civil-military equation on the military‟s terms,
which no civil society can accept,” said PPP‟s Farhatullah Babarxx.

Lawyers and retd judges, bar council members all protested against it, the representatives
of the bar have unanimously rejected it and announced to observe a protest day against
itxxi.

21
 V0.5

Bar Council termed LFO illegal, mala fide, “This act of Gen Pervez Musharraf is not
only illegal, illegitimate, unauthorized, and mala fide, but also indicate that no real and
true democracy could be restored in Pakistan and the liberalized deception/oppression of
the uniform people/autocracy will go on in the name of democracy,” the Bar Council
members maintained.

Pakistan Bar Council and the Supreme Court Bar Association stated that by taking oath
under the LFO the members of parliament would virtually be „signing the death warrants‟
of the National Assembly itself by conceding to the discretionary powers of the president
to dissolve the National and provincial assemblies. They wrote letter to all political
parties to tell them that by taking oath under the LFO they would be making a mockery
of democracyxxii.

Leaders of major political parties, eminent legal and constitutional experts rejected the
establishment of the National Security Council and the Legal Frame Work Order, saying
they are in total contravention of democratic and parliamentary norms. “They are black
laws aimed at undermining the supremacy of parliament. The government should revoke
these laws, otherwise democratic forces in the country stand committed to wage a
struggle to force the rulers to reverse their arbitrary and whimsical decisions.”xxiii

LFO was also challenged in Supreme Court of Pakistan, who ruled that LHP must go
through scrutiny and the approval of Elected Government post election.xxiv

Refer to following documents for detailed text of LFO:

 Legal Framework Order, 2002. (C.E.O. No. 24 of 2002, August 21, 2002).
 Legal Framework (Amendment) Order, 2002. (C.E.O No. 29 of 2002, October 9,
2002).
 Legal Framework (Second Amendment) Order, 2002. (C.E.O. No. 32 of 2002,
October 26, 2002).
 Legal Framework (Removal of Difficulty) Order, 2002. (C.E.O. No. 37 of 2002,
November 15, 2002)
 Legal Framework (Removal of Difficulty) Order, 2002. (C.E.O No. 41 of 2002,
November 22, 2002).
 The National Security Council Act, 2004 (Act No. 1 of 2004 April 20, 2004).

@ http://www.pakistanconstitution-law.com/presidential_order.asp , these document

provide an eye opener for people on how the Constitution is mauled, and how the Law is
manipulated to change rules of game to suit one‟s goals, and to consolidate one‟s power.

22
 V0.5

General Election – October, 2002

After 3 years of Military rule, the elections were held on October, 10th
October
2002. More than 70 parties contested only the 8th national
2002
parliamentary election in 55 years. This included PPP, PML-N, MMA,
MQM, ANP, PML-Q (also called King‟s Party). There were more than 72 million
registered voters aged 18 and above from a population of 140 million. Voting was carried
out in 65,000 polling stations. The elections were observed and monitored by hundreds of
local and 300 international observers, including observers from European Union and the
Commonwealth, as well as local rights group.

The new rules in these elections included

1. Convicted people were barred from taking part in elections under new legislation, in
particular prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, and many other
opponents were unable to contest.

2. A must Bachelor‟s Degree to qualify, which eliminated large majority of current

parliament, however, gave rise to Fraud Degree industry.

3. Voting age was lowered to 18 from 21.

Prior to Election, Gen Musharraf claimed that he future parliament will have all powers
to legislate, including the power to amend the Constitution as per the existing
constitutional provisions. “I will not run the government” claimed Musharraf. “After the
elections, the prime minister will be fully in charge (of things) and empowered to govern
the country” He added. Gen Musharraf rejected allegations of pre-poll rigging.

Despite Gen Musharraf‟s assurances that the elections would be fair, free and transparent,
different political parties alleged that the elections were engineered and the government
was involved in massive rigging. It was alleged that ballot engineering was behind the
sluggish pace of announcements of the election results.

The press was muted by promulgated Defamation Ordinance. Press retaliated to new
ordinance: “We expressed major reservations with respect to the drift of the
government‟s press policy, and strongly rejected the new clumsy attempt to curb the
freedom of press through the proposed ordinances.”

The voters‟ turnout was reported very low, between 15-20%

23
 V0.5

Observers from the European Union described the elections as seriously flawed by
official interference in favor of parties like the PML (QA), which supports President
Musharraf. “Regrettably, in choosing the course of interference, the Pakistan authorities
engaged in actions which resulted in serious flaws in the electoral process,” European
Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) said.
However, United States quickly accepted the results
and declared it credible.xxv Gen Musharraf lashed out
at EU EOM report and said they have no business to
interfere in Pakistan‟s Election. Pakistan later
officially complained to EU, especially about their
remarks on NSC and Clause 58-2-b where President
Gen Musharraf casting his vote in 2002 Election
retained power to axed elected government.

EU EOM noted following items in their report:

1. The co-operation from the federal authorities was less that what had been expected,

2. Expressed serious concerns regarding the independence of the Election Commission

of Pakistan, the restrictions on political parties and their candidates, the misuse of
state resources, some unbalanced coverage in the state media, deficiencies in the
compilation of the voting register and significant problems relating to the provision of
ID cards.

3. The four Commissioners are all seasoned judges with extensive legal background.
However in the field of election administration they are all new. A telling example is
the CEC who was appointed less than ten (10) months prior to Election Day.

4. ECP failed to curb the authorities‟ misuse of state resources in favor of political
parties, in particular, but not exclusively, for the PML(QA). This has casted serious
doubts over the ECP‟s independence. This became apparent when both President
Musharraf and the Commissioner of Islamabad imposed serious restrictions on
campaign activities, which clearly ran contrary to the Code of Conduct

5. Selective attitude towards Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to keep them out of
Election Process. However, same was not applied towards candidates of King‟s Party,
such as Aftab Sherpao (who was charged by NAB for misappropriation of funds, and
acquitted after affiliating to Gen Musharraf), and pro-Musharaf Mr. Chaudhry Shujaat

24
 V0.5

Hussain and Mr. Pervez Elahi (who have had large bank loans written off. On 20
September 2002),

6. There are reasons to believe that charges raised by the National Accountability
Bureau (NAB) have been used as one of the forms of pressure against certain
candidates. This becomes even more obvious given that similar charges have been
dropped in cases where politicians have joined pro-government parties.

7. The limited time allocated to electioneering and the many restrictions imposed
seriously hampered the abilities of parties and candidates to campaign and
contributed to the lackluster campaign. This is of grave concern to the EU EOM as
the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech are essential components of a
democratic election contest.

8. EU EOM noted worrying signs that the well-established tradition of state interference
with the work of journalists and editors had not completely disappeared. Several
journalists and editors, particularly in the English press, said they came under
pressure from the authorities to downplay or suppress reports, which were
unfavorable or touched on sensitive issues considered by the authorities to be of
national interest.

9. In the weeks preceding the elections, the government introduced a Defamation

Ordinance and promulgated other laws on Freedom of Information, the establishment
of a Press Council and the registration of newspapers. Some elements of these laws
raised concern about press freedoms

10. Interference of Public authorities and misuse of

state resources

EU EOM concluded that the holding of a general

election does not in itself guarantee the restoration of
democracy. The unjustified interference with John Cushnanan (left) hands over the final report
on the EU's Election Observation Mission to
electoral arrangements, as detailed in report,
Pakistan to Commissioner Chris Patten (right).
irrespective of the alleged motivation, resulted in
serious flaws being inflicted on the electoral process. Additionally, questions still remain
as to whether or not there will be a full transfer of power from a military to civilian
administration.

25
 V0.5

Government tried all tactics to maximize results in their favor. They removed the ban on
deflection and openly did horse-trading of opposition parties MNA. Once, they purchased
enough, they restored the ban again, so that the purchased MNA cannot go back.

Supreme Court gloated on the wisdom of Doctrine of State Necessity and described its
decision of validating the military takeover as universally accredited. However, Supreme
Court Bar Association president Hamid Khan deplored such comments as “disparaging
remarks about the independence of the judiciary”. Senior Lawyers Khalid Anwar and SM
Zafar welcomed SC judgment on approving military takeover.

Reports from EU Election Observation Mission to Pakistan - October 2002:

 European Union Election Observation Mission: Final Report

 http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/human_rights/eu_election_ass_observ/pak/inde
x.htm

The Constitution of Pakistan or Military Ordinance?

By this time Gen Musharraf‟s military government was able to sneak a long list of
constitutional amendments. The ordinances issued in the month of October 2002, mostly
after Oct 12, are:

1. Press Council of Pakistan Ordinance, 2002;

2. The Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Ordinance, 2002;

3. Freedom of Information Ordinance, 2002;

4. Industrial Relations Ordinance, 2002;

5. Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2002;

6. Railways Regulatory Authority; Patent (Amendment) Ordinance, 2002;

7. Marketing of Petroleum Products (Federal Control) (Repeal) Ordinance, 2002;

8. Protection of Breast-Feeding and Child Nutrition Ordinance, 2002;

9. Bait-ul-Mal (Amendment) Ordinance, 2002;

26
 V0.5

10. Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (Control and Prevention) (Amendment),
Ordinance, 2002;

11. Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Amendment), 2002;

12. National School of Public Policy, 2002;

13. Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Election (Amendment) Ordinance,

2002;

14. Representation of the People (Fourth Amendment) Ordinance, 2002;

15. The Senate Election (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2002;

16. Gwadar Port Authority Ordinance; Conduct of General Elections (Sixth Amendment)
Order, 2002;

17. Criminal Laws Reforms Ordinance 2002;

18. Election of Members of Senate from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas Order,
2002;

19. Senate Election (Amendment) Ordinance, 2002;

20. National Fund for Cultural Heritage (Amendment) Ordinance, 2002;

21. Defence Housing Authority Lahore Order 2002;

22. Electronic Transactions Ordinance 2002;

23. Employees Old-Age Benefits (Amendment) Ordinance, 2002;

24. General Elections (Fifth Amendment) Order, 2002;

25. Official Secret (Amendment) Ordinance 2002;

26. Foundation University Ordinance, 2002;

27. Cantonment Local Governments (Election) Ordinance, 2002;

28. Unani Ayurvedic and Homeopathic Practitioners (Second Amendment) Ordinance,

2002;

27
 V0.5

29. Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan (Reorganisation and Conversion)

Ordinance, 2002;

30. Health Services Academy Ordinance, 2002;

31. Cotton Standardization Ordinance 2002;

32. National Institute of Health (Amendment) Ordinance, 2002;

33. Federal Ministers and Ministers of State (Salaries, Allowances and Privileges)
(Amendment) Ordinance, 2002;

34. Family Courts (Amendment) Ordinance, 2002; Defamation Ordinance, 2002.

Opposition parties issue statements against issuance of ordinances, but to no avail. The
military government took the position that the chief executive has amended the
Constitution under the legislative powers which were granted to him by the Supreme
Court.

Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency – PILDAT concludes

that during a short history of Pakistan seventeen amendments were made to The
Constitution of Pakistan. Some of these amendments particularly the Eighth and the
Seventeenth Amendments have virtually changed the face of the Constitution. The
Constitution as it stands today is completely different legal and political document than it
was when originally passed in 1973. Its structure, particularly in terms of provisions
relating to the parliamentary system of government and the provincial autonomy, has
undergone a complete volte-face. Another important feature of these amendments is that
only 18 out of 65 Articles amended by the RCO were modified by the Eighth
Amendment (General Zia-ul-Haq era). Similarly, only 9 out of 29 Articles introduced by
LFO were modified by the Seventeenth Amendment (Gen Musharraf era).

A peculiar feature of the history of the Constitutional Amendments is that most of the
Amendments were passed hurriedly without reference to Parliamentary Committees.
Even there were no readings of the amendment Bills and the vote of both Houses on such
Bills were rushed on the basis of brute majority. In the case of Fourth Amendment, the
opposition members were physically thrown out of the Parliament at the time of the
passing of the Amendment. There have been amendments where Amendment Bills were

28
 V0.5

moved and passed around mid night. Even the parliamentarians did not have the copy of
the Bill before it was actually moved in the Parliament. Where there was an impression
that the amendment Bill would not be favored by the President or the Establishment,
clandestine strategies were adopted, particularly in case of Thirteenth and Fourteenth
Amendments so that the Establishment would not have time to react and defeat such
Amendment Bills. The Eighth Amendment was passed after lengthy Parliamentary
debate spread over six to eight weeks. There was some Parliamentary debate over the
Second and Fifth Amendment. The Sixth Amendment, which was meant to favor one
person, was passed clandestinely without any debate. The Seventeenth Amendment was
deliberately rushed through the Parliament with Establishment breathing down the neck
of the Parliament in order to ensure that it was passed by both Houses before the holding
of the SAARC Conference in the first week of January 2004.

Hence, in Pakistan, the convention of Parliamentary debates, an essential feature of

Parliamentary democracy, is yet to develop. It has been mainly stifled by the military
rulers but unfortunately some of the civilian rulers have not fared much better.xxvi

29
 V0.5

17th (un)Constitutional Amendment – December, 2003

Nov 2002 17th amendment was affirmation of LFO orders and all actions of Gen

Dec 2003 Musharraf‟s rule up to this time, and to provide him immunity and
legal cover for all his illegal actions,
or those committed on his authority by his supporters.
Even though that Gen Musharraf King‟s party had
majority of seats in the parliament, they were short of
2/3 majority needed to pass 17th Amendment (or ratify
the LFO). This bill will paralyze the parliament until
MMA (Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal) alliance of religious
parties and ARD came to his rescue.

“The ARD and MMA are prepared to give indemnity to all acts of the military regime
during the past three years, provided the army gives up power, returns to the barracks and
restores the Constitution in the pre- takeover form”, said senior leader Nawabzada
Nasrullah Khan. They positioned it as an offer to allow safe passage for army to leave
political arena, by accepting Gen Musharraf as president, provided the constitutional
amendments, including the LFO, giving him extraordinary discretionary powers, are
withdrawn and he quits the post of chief of army staff. Qazi Hussain Ahmed (JI)
threatened to quit NA if LFO is accepted.

This was only their wishful thinking, as it will later turn out to be. Gen Musharraf wasn‟t
going to leave the power in any shape or form.

On November 16h, 2002 Chief Executive aka Gen Musharraf partially revived the
Constitution, including the controversial LFO amendments and clause 58-2-b.

National Assembly opened its first regular session on

February 26th, 2003 more than four months after its
election. Heated debates on LFO became norm in
assemblies, as Gen Musharaf tried to sneak in LFO as
defecto part of Constitution. The NA came to stand still on
LFO issue as opposition parties refuse to accept one man
law. Puppet Prime Minister Jamali defended LFO and

30
 V0.5

promised to request the General to remove controversial parts. Lawyers continued to

protest against LFO across the country. Opposition parties refused to take oath under
LFO. Gen Musharraf send the NA on indefinite recess as “Go Musharraf Go” gets louder.

Gen Musharraf‟s party finally gave into opposition‟s protest. Opposition members took
oath under the un-amended constitution as it existed
before Gen Musharraf seized power on Oct 12, 1999.
Constitution of Pakistan was revived after 41 months
interval. However, the extreme controversy remained on
LFO, whilst Gen Musharraf refused to undo LFO and
NSC, both necessary tools to retain Military rule and
control. He also refused to shed his uniform and COAS
title. NA was completely paralyzed, while Gen Musharraf refused to appear in parliament
due to loud opposition protest. Puppet PM Jamali shuttled between opposition and
General to negotiate a compromise.

While Gen Musharraf loosing grounds with opposition, he was gaining grounds with US
President G Bush with unchartered War of Error. In fact, some believes that Gen
Musharraf had not choice but to keep his obedience with
USA to legitimize his rule. During this phase, Indian
Prime Minister Vajpaee scored key goals over Musharraf
and pushed him to corner on Kashmir policy with the
help of new indian business partners, USA. Gen
Musharraf was in no position to negotiate with USA and
India, with his back on wall with illegitimate rule. String
this era, Musharraf govt made numereous statement on no-change-over-kashmir policy.
Gen Musharraf was rewarded with dollars, however, gave Gen Musharraf certain „goals‟.

May 29th 2003, Six months since the National Assembly was
restored, Gen Musharraf‟s party continued their negotiations
with opposition parties on LFO issue. After the deadlock on
collective bargaining, they started negotiating with
individual opposition parties, and Gen Musharraf directory
negotiated with MMA. Lawyers continued their protest
against LFO and faced administration, and Gen Musharraf
responded that LFO can‟t be undone, and preached his unity

31
 V0.5

of command doctrine. Especially, after his Camp David trip where he established
„friendship‟ with President Bush, he was lot more confident of holding on power to meet
certain „goals‟. He was happy to ignore issues in NA, as his term was safe now and he
was $3 billion richer, with additional performance bonus certainly on its way.

He was also preparing to make a U-turn on long standing Pakistan‟s Kashmir Policy.
Now confident, Gen Musharraf hinted flexibility on core LFO issues related to uniform
and NSC. MMA floated the idea that uniform can be accepted till November 2004 with
acceptance from other parties. While Gen was negotiating with MMA, he managed to
settled his differences with MQM, and voices could be heard that MQM ready to accept
the Military governance.

Internationally, Foreign Ministers of Commonwealth kept Pakistan status under

suspension due to impasse on LFO issues, however, there were mere lip services and
were never intended to genuinely harm Gen Musharraf‟s doctorial regime. USA fully
supported and encouraged dictatorship in the country, both showering dollar and praise.
Human Right Watch issued a reportxxvii on wrong doings, which was quickly rejected by
Gen Musharraf. Report stated “General Pervez Musharraf took steps that further
consolidated the army's authority and all but ensured that any future government would
operate under military tutelage” and that it faces little international opposition. The
international community almost unanimously eased diplomatic and economic sanctions
when Pakistan backed the U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition. Gen Musharraf reshuffled
military command structure (to place die-hard buddies in commanding positions). So
much for preaching „merit selection‟ to nation.

Human Rights Watch Report can be downloaded from:

 HRW Report on Pakistan 2002 - http://hrw.org/wr2k2/asia9.html

Oct-Nov 2003, Opposition parties, lawyers and bar

associations and right activities continued their opposition to
LFO. Prime Minister Jamali threatened new Marshall Law if
LFO not accepted. Government arrested ARD chief Javed
Hashmi on fabricated charges and was tortured in jail.
Cracks started to appear in opposition as MMA tried to
negotiate LFO with Gen Musharraf. On November 29th 2003, MMA announced that an
understanding has been achieved with government, and under the term Gen Musharraf

32
 V0.5

will shed uniform by December 31st 2004. The final deal between MMA-Government
was announced with following main items:

1. withdraw the three-year extension in retirement age offered to superior court judges,

2. keep the local governments under the Sixth Schedule for six years,

3. set up the National Security Council under an act of

parliament,

4. the decision to dismiss a government under 58(2)b will be

referred to the Supreme Court within 15 days,

5. the president will seek vote of confidence from the

electoral college,

6. the president will consult the prime minister on the appointment of armed forces
chiefs but will not be bound by the advice of the PM, and

7. the president will give up his uniform by December, 2004

Most of these items had no meaning, except item #7, which was merely wishful thinking
of MMA leadership. Opposition alliance ARD rejected the pact as moving country to
“on-unit” system.

Later, Government moved the drafted in National Assembly as Seventeenth Amendment,

however, tailored it. Aitzaz Ahsan of the People‟s Party argued against the bill that it was
contrary to the joint stand of the ARD and MMA during their 13-month protest that
presidential decrees forming the LFO and giving sweeping powers to Gen Musharraf
could not become part of the constitution without a parliamentary approval. Maulana
Fazlur Rehman defended what he called a satisfactory agreement. However, Qazi
Hussain Ahmed came hard against the draft and defended Aitzaz Ahsan‟s argument.

On, December 29th 2003, the darkest day of Pakistan‟s history, the Seventeenth
Amendment was passed by National Assembly mostly by government MNA, and with
the help of MMA members. The bill was approved by 248 (out of 342-lower house)
members, while 0 vote against it as opposition boycotted the voting. The bill largely
endorsed Gen Musharraf‟s solo-law aka LFO. The bill largely retained the president
powers and was a negation of parliamentary system of government.

33
 V0.5

History Repeated: The bill‟s passage was throwback of a similar package passed by the
National Assembly in 1985 that indemnified actions of then president Gen Ziaul Haq and
introduced article 58(2)(b) in the then revived Constitution. xxviii

In summary, Seventeenth amendment did following damage to already crippled

Constitution of 1973:

1. LFO orders were largely incorporated into Constitution.

2. Validation and affirmation of laws passed under various LFO orders, all
Proclamations, President's Orders, Ordinances, Chief Executive's Orders, laws,
regulations, enactments, including amendments in the Constitution, notifications,
rules, orders or bye-laws, all orders made, proceedings taken, appointments made by
Chief Executive or President, or on his behalf or authority. Hence, giving legal cover
to all wrong doings.

3. No suit, prosecution or other legal action can be taken against any Order or action
passed by Gen Musharraf or on his authority, since he first proclaimed Marshall Law.

4. Holding of two offices. Article 63(1)(d) shall become operative on and from
December 31st , 2004. This clause prohibits a person from holding both political
office (i.e. The President) and an “office of profit” (i.e. an office that is typically held
by a career government servant, civil or military - such as the office of the Chief of
Army Staff). Although this was supposed to separate the two types of office, a
loophole - ".. other than an office declared by law .." - allowed Parliament to pass an
ordinary law later in 2004 - permitting the President to hold on to the office of Chief
of Army Staff, an option that Gen Musharraf then exercised.

5. Restoration of restored Article 58(2)(b) of the Constitution, that gives power to

President to dissolve National Assembly at will.

6. If the President wins a majority in a vote of confidence in the electoral college, he

will be considered elected to the office of President. (On January 1, 2004, Gen
Musharraf won 658 out of 1,170 electoral-college votes - a 56% majority – giving
him the title of The President of Pakistan.)

The bill was opposed by the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and its
smaller allies. Senate passed the 17th Amendment with the help of MMA by 72-0 votes.

34
 V0.5

Gen Musharraf claimed yet another victory by mauling the Constitution. Soon after, Gen
Musharraf won the vote of no confidence. The unprecedented vote, allowed by a new
constitutional amendment, accorded legitimacy to Gen Musharraf's military presidency
after 14 months of noisy opposition protests that had paralyzed parliament.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, president of MMA party who helped Gen Musharraf with 17th
Amendment termed it the best possible deal, and called it a success. He however added
that the country will continue to remain under the military rule as long as President
Musharraf does not leave the office of the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS). xxix

This time in history can be considered as highest point in Gen Musharraf‟s regime. He
became the most powerful person in Pakistan, and had the absolute power to change all
wrong doings of the past generations. Unfortunately, the famous saying came true –
Absolute power corrupts absolutely…

Refer to following document for detailed text of 17th Amendment:

 The Constitution (Seventeenth Amendment) Act, 2003 (dated December 31, 2003).

@ http://www.pakistanconstitution-law.com/appendix19.asp

35
 V0.5

Gen Musharraf take oath as President for next 5 years

On November 16th 2002, Gen Pervez Musharraf took fresh oath for another five years in
office secured through a referendum held in April this year. General was sworn in under
the 1973 Constitution as amended by the Legal Framework Order promulgated by the
Gen Musharraf (himself) in August this year.

Remember that on this date LFO was not yet passed by parliament as 17th Constitutional
amendment. However, the government officially notified the assumption of office of
General Pervez Musharraf as the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan under the
Constitution of the country!!

Gen Musharraf, appeared on TV and made a righteous speech that he has transferred the
powered to people! And praised some of good things he did in three year term.
Conveniently, he forgot to remind people that he has consolidated all powers into single
person, and vehemently modified the Constitution to favor his powers.

Now, Gen Musharraf‟s is illegally legal until November 15th 2007. Then whole Marshall
Law cycle will be repeated in November 2007. All of the drama that happened in 2002,
will be repeated again.

36