Commonwealth sets 10-day deadline

LONDON, Nov 12: The Commonwealth on Monday gave Pakistan a 10-day deadline to restore its constitution and lift other emergency measures or face suspension from the 53-nation grouping.The ultimatum came after emergency talks among the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) in London to decide how to respond to President Pervez Musharraf’s declaration of a state of emergency on November 3.

Secretary-General Don McKinnon said that, if Musharraf fails to meet its demands by a ministers’ meeting on the eve of a November 23-25 Commonwealth summit in Uganda, Pakistan will be suspended as a member.

“CMAG agreed that at its next meeting on the 22 November, if after review of progress Pakistan has failed to implement these necessary measures, it will suspend Pakistan from the councils of the Commonwealth,” he told reporters.

“We have given Pakistan a little breathing space between now and then to comply” with the demands, he added, when asked why they did not suspend Pakistan straightaway.

He was speaking after an extraordinary meeting of CMAG, which deals with serious breaches of the Commonwealth’s guiding principles.

Mr McKinnon said that Pakistan had “seriously violated the Commonwealth’s fundamental values” and said this should be addressed in the following ways:

— “Immediate repeal of the emergency provisions and full restoration of the Constitution and of the independence of the judiciary” and restoration of the rule of law;

— “President Musharraf to step down as chief of army staff as promised”;

— “Immediate release of political party leaders and activists, human rights activists, lawyers and journalists”;

— “Immediate removal of... restrictions on the press”;

— “Move rapidly towards the creation of conditions for the creation of free and fair elections”.

Mr Musharraf, seen as a key ally of the West in the fight against terrorism since September 11, 2001, declared a state of emergency on November 3, sparking widespread international concern and protests from Pakistan’s legal community.—AFP




Dawn 13/Nov/07