The Charade in Pakistan Continues

The leader of Pakistan by their constitution should be referred to as President but that is hardly a title that can be afforded to Pervez Musharraf.

After fearing the Supreme Court of Pakistan would rule his recent reelection as "President" would be ruled illegal and in violation of the constitution of Pakistan, Musharraf arrested every Supreme Court Justice and suspended the constitution of Pakistan; effectively installing marshal law.

After initially blocking travel by former Pakistan Prime Ministers and opposition leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, Musharraf placed Benazir Bhutto under house arrest immediately following the removal of the supreme court justices.

Musharraf then hand picked new Supreme Court Justices and asked them to rule on the legality of his recent reelection. In what was a surprise to no one, they ruled his election was constitutional.

After receiving a gentle nudge by the United States, Musharraf in an emotional speech, stepped down from his dual role of "General" of Pakistan. He has now promised Parliamentary elections in January and has invited neutral observes to be present during the election.

An article in the Baltimore Sun today entitled "Musharraf ends state of emergency"
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/world/bal-te.pakistan16dec16,0,5080882.story
details the most recent action by Musharraf.

The question remains, "Who is he fooling"? The original Supreme Court Justices who are still under house arrest should be re-instated and allowed to issue their ruling on Musharraf's election as President. In the very least, Musharraf should be made to run for reelection at the same time as the Parliamentary elections with these elections supervised by UN or respected neutral observers.