The government on Sunday said parliamentary elections scheduled for January could be put back. "There could be some timing difference on the election schedule but we have not decided yet," Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters.
"In an emergency, the parliament could give itself one year." Aziz said up to 500 people had been detained across Pakistan in the past 24 hours.
APP ADDS: The Prime Minister said the decision to proclaim state of emergency in the country was to ensure writ of the government and maintain harmony among three pillars of the state. "These measures are to ensure writ of the government, improve law and order situation and maintain harmony among judiciary, executive and the legislature, so the government could function smoothly", he told a crowded press conference here at the Prime Minister House.
Shaukat Aziz said the government, through extra measures, wanted to have an ability to act effectively and protect the lives of people, which could not be done with ordinary laws. He hoped that the measures would bring normalcy in the prevailing situation in the country.
He said the emergency was imposed, as various entities of the government could not perform their roles effectively. Shaukat Aziz said the security situation in the country as well as neighbouring Afghanistan and the presence of foreign troops there had prompted the government to take extraordinary measures.
Although the Constitution had been held in abeyance, all the activities would continue to function normally, he added.
"Judiciary will function in the normal way. No army will be called in any part of the country, only police and paramilitary forces will be used to control the situation," he said. The Prime Minister said the code of conduct announced last Saturday for media would provide guidelines, required to be followed for media's reasonable behaviour.
He said more than 50 TV channels had been introduced on the media scene owing to the freedom of expression provided by the government.
On reopening of the blocked transmission of private TV channels, the Prime Minister said the information ministry was in the process of negotiating with stakeholders and hoped that it would be done soon.
"We are always, even after the code of conduct, deliberating with stakeholders to continue...we want the media to flourish to perform their duties in line with code of conduct," he said.
Shaukat Aziz told a questioner that the extraordinary measure provides the authority to amend the Constitution for ensuring writ of the government and harmony among various state pillars.
"We want to have ability to protect the lives of people, as it could not be done through normal laws", he added.
The Prime Minister said the initial reaction of the people, as reported by various newspapers, was predictable as some people are pleased and some others are unhappy, but the bulk of people wanted to get their life normal, he added.
To a question as to how long this emergency will continue, the prime minister said the government has been deliberating on the subject for some time and looking how to address the security issue.
He said this extraordinary measure was taken after consultations with all stakeholders, including the government, party members and the parliamentarians of the ruling party. The Prime Minister said: "Our desire is to keep it (emergency) as short as possible."
He hoped that after this measure there would be visible improvement in the security situation vis-à-vis harmony among state pillars.