Rousing calls for protest in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN —  Two of Pakistan’s most popular public figures issued separate challenges Tuesday to President Pervez Musharraf, potentially raising the stakes and heightening the danger of a standoff over the imposition of emergency rule in the country, which is a key U.S. ally.

Pakistan’s deposed chief justice issued a rousing call for followers to resist Musharraf’s emergency declaration, while former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto arrived here in the capital and demanded restoration of the constitution and the holding of free elections. Bhutto plans to participate in a demonstration against the emergency measures Friday in the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Musharraf, a general who seized the presidency in 1999 and remains army chief of staff, assumed sweeping new powers Saturday. Since then, he has suspended the constitution, fired Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, knocked independent television stations off the air, and had thousands of opponents rounded up by police.

Pakistanis have taken to calling it Musharraf’s “second coup.”

Despite the deepening crisis, President Bush refrained for a fourth day from calling Musharraf. Bush faced demands that he take more strenuous action amid fear of even greater instability in Pakistan, which relies heavily on U.S. military aid and has helped the United States in its war against Al Qaeda.

Chaudhry, addressing supporters for the first time since being placed under effective house arrest Saturday night, declared that “this is the time to sacrifice” -- language that appeared to suggest that mass street protests should go ahead even if they result in bloodshed.

The former justice, who this year has become an emblem of resistance to Musharraf’s rule, spoke by cellphone to about two dozen lawyers who crowded into the small offices of the Islamabad Bar Assn. Hundreds more lawyers, wearing their “uniform” of black suits and ties, gathered outside, listening in on loudspeakers.

Chants arose from the crowd at the sound of Chaudhry’s voice, quickly shushed by those who wanted to hear. “Musharraf is a criminal!” some yelled. “Chaudhry, Chaudhry!” others chanted.

“The constitution has been ripped to shreds,” he said, his voice crackling over the loudspeakers as the crowd fell silent. “The lawyers should convey my message to the people to rise up and restore the constitution.”

It was not clear how Chaudhry, who had been incommunicado for the preceding two days except for a statement relayed by his lawyer, obtained a phone. Soon after he spoke, cellphone service was disrupted in the capital -- similar to the cutoff of phone service soon after the state of emergency was declared.

Within hours, however, a recording of his phone message was being transmitted to Musharraf opponents nationwide and circulated on the websites of some independent television stations.

Street protests thus far have been largely confined to groups of lawyers and activists, thousands of whom clashed with police in major cities Monday. A nationwide groundswell of resistance, though, could either threaten to topple Musharraf or bring about an even tighter clampdown.

Both Bhutto and Chaudhry have the proven ability to mobilize tens of thousands of followers. Chaudhry’s backers staged massive demonstrations eight months ago when Musharraf first tried to fire the respected chief justice -- protests that swiftly grew into a nationwide pro-democracy movement.

Bhutto, for her part, was greeted by more than 150,000 supporters Oct. 18 when she returned to Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, after eight years in self-imposed exile, a triumphal homecoming that was shattered by a suicide bombing that left more than 140 people dead.

Bhutto’s message to her own followers has been considerably more nuanced than Chaudhry’s, leaving many in Pakistan confused as to whether she is styling herself as a full-fledged opposition leader, or still holds some hope of an eventual power- sharing arrangement with Musharraf.

Before the emergency declaration, the former prime minister had insisted that an accord with Musharraf would be the best way to peacefully usher in civilian rule. As the two appeared last month to move close to a deal, he signed a law granting her amnesty on pending corruption charges.

Bhutto, who flew to Islamabad from Karachi, her home base, said she would not meet with Musharraf while the current authoritarian measures remained in place.

“There will be no talks . . . in the given circumstances,” she said.

Bhutto told reporters that her followers would not sit in the national assembly, which was to reconvene today. She also said that what originally had been intended as a campaign rally Friday in Rawalpindi would instead be a demonstration.

Thus far, Bhutto and other major opposition leaders have avoided trying to galvanize large street rallies for fear of setting off bloody confrontations with police and paramilitary troops. The police have shown scant restraint in dealing with protesters, beating and tear-gassing even elderly, paunchy barristers.

Again on Tuesday, police clubbed protesting lawyers, this time in the central city of Multan. But the clash was far smaller than similar ones a day earlier in several cities.

Musharraf, meanwhile, moved to consolidate his control over what had formerly been an independent-minded judiciary.

A reconstituted nine-member Supreme Court, now made up of loyalists to the Pakistani leader, convened for the first time and threw out a ruling by former justices against Saturday night’s declaration of emergency rule.

Musharraf’s stated reason for declaring an emergency was the Islamic insurgency that has roiled the country for months. In a new push, militants in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday seized a town near the Afghan border, where government troops surrendered without resistance -- a familiar pattern of late.

But although the threat from militants is real enough, Musharraf’s opponents say the declaration of emergency rule was driven by fear that the Supreme Court would invalidate his election to a second presidential term. The newly loyalist court is now expected to declare the vote legitimate.

The Pakistani judicial system, a holdover from British colonial times, is considered a point of national pride, particularly in recent years as judges have become more independent-minded. During decades of successive military dictatorships, though, judges had often acquiesced to repressive government policies.

Musharraf, 64, has encountered a wave of international opposition to his authoritarian measures, including criticism from Washington, which for the last six years has been his chief patron.

His government, however, has brushed off the criticism. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said the emergency declaration was an internal Pakistani matter.

Musharraf has said he will give up his post as the military chief and allow elections, but hasn’t said when. His Cabinet met Tuesday to talk about when a parliamentary vote would be held, but reached no conclusion.

U.S. Ambassador Anne W. Patterson visited the election commission in Islamabad to urge that an election timetable be set as soon as possible.

In Washington, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), who chairs the House Homeland Security subcommittee on intelligence and terrorism risk assessment, criticized “mixed messages of the past two days” from the White House. She called for a suspension of U.S. aid to force Musharraf to revoke his emergency decree, release imprisoned protesters, restore press freedoms and quit his post as military leader.

“It is clear to me that President Musharraf’s chances of political survival are extremely dim unless he does these things,” Harman said.

Musharraf accepted a phone call from Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a 2008 presidential candidate. Biden described their conversation as “frank and detailed.”

“It is clear to me from our conversation that President Musharraf understands the consequences for his country and for relations with the United States if he does not return Pakistan to the path of democracy,” Biden said.

Officials at the White House defended Bush’s decision not to call Musharraf, noting that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had been in touch with him. Bush “has made his points very clear with Musharraf; he’s had many meetings with President Musharraf,” Press Secretary Dana Perino said.

laura.king@latimes.com

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Times staff writers Henry Chu in Lahore, Pakistan; Nicole Gaouette, Greg Miller and James Gerstenzang in Washington; and special correspondent Mubashir Zaidi in Islamabad contributed to this report.