Pakistan to lift emergency, but critics cautious

ISLAMABAD, Dec 14 (bdprem.com/Reuters) - Pakistan was poised to lift emergency rule on Saturday, but critics said it might make little difference for an opposition complaining President Pervez Musharraf can still engineer an election win for his allies. With Jan. 8 parliamentary elections only weeks away, restrictions on media and the judiciary still stacked the cards in favour of Musharraf and his caretaker government, opposition members and political analysts said. Your Ad Here Musharraf imposed the emergency on Nov. 3, suspended the constitution and purged the Supreme Court to fend off challenges to his re-election, which new hand-picked judges have since rubber-stamped. Under international pressure, including from his ally the United States, Musharraf said he would restore the constitution. "The lifting is just an ornamental thing," said Khawaja Harris, a senior lawyer working with opposition leader and former prime minister Nawiz Sharif. "In the meantime, Musharraf has set the rules of the game and everything he wanted to install is already in place." Several judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who were deposed by Musharraf are still being held under house arrest. The Pakistani media criticised this week a ban on live broadcasts as an attempt to control election coverage. Election monitors say the caretaker administration, from the central government to district level, can fix the result and Sharif and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's opposition parties have said the government has the power to rig votes. Critics say Musharraf, who stepped down as army chief last month, faces pressure to avoid losing because an opposition-run parliament could move to impeach him over accusations he acted unconstitutionally in securing a new term as president. "The detention of lawyers, the absence of a level-playing field and the ability of the election commission to enforce a code of ethics will not change," said political analyst Nasim Zehra. DEVIL IN DETAILS? The election is essentially a three-way battle between parties loyal to Musharraf and the parties of two main opposition leaders, former prime ministers Bhutto and Sharif. With political rallies currently banned, parties have been holding what they call smaller "meetings" to get round the regulations. There is some hope bigger rallies would be allowed as the campaign gets into gear. "There could be some relaxing of allowing rallies but time is so short until the election, it will not make much difference," said Harris. Critics are also worried that, while lifting the emergency, Musharraf could retain his influence by introducing amendments to curtail judicial independence, such as limiting tenures of judges. "When the emergency is lifted, the devil may be in the details," said Zehra. Farahatullah Babar, a spokesman for Bhutto's party, said his party was opposed to any amendments. "One of the most important amendments to my mind, although it has not been stated so, is he will say all his actions will be indemnified and make his actions beyond the purview of the parliament."