http://pakjurist.typepad.com/pakjurist/2007/06/musharraf-drops.html

More than 100 fishermen have been rescued by the navy

Rescuers in southern Pakistan are battling to reach tens of thousands of people stranded after a cyclone struck the country’s Arabian Sea coastline.

Many people are clinging to trees and rooftops to escape floods. Bad weather and damaged roads, bridges and phone links are slowing relief efforts.

Thousands lost their homes having fled to high ground ahead of cyclone Yemyin. At least 20 people are reported killed. Read the rest of this entry »

The order is posted at: http://supremecourt.gov.pk/sub_links/pr/PR-23-06-2007.htm

Movies usually tell a story powerfully, emotionally—and simply. But “A Mighty Heart” is notable for the nuance it manages to convey. The 2002 murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl wasn’t itself complicated: a group of jihadists kidnapped him and then brutally beheaded him. But its setting, Pakistan, is awash in gray tones, which the movie paints skillfully. To fully understand this story, we must recognize the utter ruthlessness of Pearl’s killers but also the complexity of where they came from. Now, with Pakistan undergoing its greatest crisis since 9/11, the United States would do well to take that complexity into account.
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Until recently, President General Pervez Musharraf was adamant that he would seek presidential re-election from the current parliament in late September as required by law, within two months of the expiry of his tenure as president on November 15. This implied that the general elections would be held after the presidential election – that is, between November 2007 and January 2008. General Musharraf also insisted that the uniform was like “second skin” to him. This implied that he would move heaven and earth to remain army chief. But the Supreme Court is expected to decide the CJP case within a week or two. If the CJP is restored, its fallout would be akin to a vote of no-confidence in the government. Read the rest of this entry »

The Supreme Court was on Thursday urged to come to the rescue of its chief justice like the army had when its chief, General Pervez Musharraf, was sacked in October 1999.

“I will show you how institutions react when their heads are removed illegally. This court must show the same reaction to save the chief justice,” submitted Aitzaz Ahsan while pleading the case of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

“The reaction of institutions must be legal and constitutional,” observed Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, the head of a 13-member full court hearing the CJP’s petition challenging the presidential reference against him. Read the rest of this entry »

President General Pervez Musharraf Thursday said media is a powerful tool of accountability and its role is extremely important for portraying the positive image of the country.

He was addressing a joint gathering of the officers of Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy at Air Headquarters, Islamabad.

The President said that the freedom of media is no doubt essential but it is also the responsibility of media not to create despondency among the masses.

He said that the media should highlight only the issues of national importance and should not try to aggravate the negative issues.
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At no time in the country’s history was judiciary presented such an opportunity to regain its prestige that it has lost over decades by decisions that favoured usurpers and by generally siding with a predatory ruling elite. The verdicts that legitimised military rulers not only derailed democracy but also led to the reduction of the courts’ own authority. Both civil and military rulers subsequently took actions to further turn the judiciary into a handmaiden. Civilian rulers packed courts, appointed confidants to key positions and sidelined independent judges. Two military rulers required judges to take fresh oath under PCO to get rid of those considered meddlesome or unreliable. Read the rest of this entry »

The People’s Democracy Institute of the Shaheed Bhutto Foundation filed a constitutional petition on Wednesday in the Supreme Court saying that the public announcement by General Pervez Musharraf on June 9 to withdraw the June 4 amendments to the PEMRA Ordinance had still not been implemented and it was a mere a public relations exercise aimed at buying time and not an honest declaration of intent. “The June 4 amendments that still held the field be declared unconstitutional,” it said.
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