The PPP's slow and calibrated response to the November 3 proclamation of 'emergency' (actually, martial law) has started to give way to a hardening of stance. At the press conference she addressed following a meeting of a much shrunk Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), party chairperson Benazir Bhutto said that the dialogue for a peaceful transition to democracy that her side had been engaged in with General Musharraf reached a deadlock after he imposed "martial law."
It is hardly surprising if the terms of engagement have now changed in view of the strong disapproval the Provisional Constitution Order has elicited from civil society within the country and almost the entire international community.
While the imposition of the so-called 'emergency plus' accompanied a widespread crackdown on Opposition parties and the various bar councils, it was widely noticed that the PPP leaders remained untouched, apparently, because the government expected the party to remain a quiet bystander while it sorted out others, including independent television channels. But being one of the two largest political parties, the PPP could ill afford to sit on the fence at a time like this. Hence, at her Thursday's press conference Benazir appealed to her party workers and the general public to come out on to the streets and court arrest.
She vowed to bring out so many people that "the regime will find it difficult to put them in jails." Already the police have arrested a lot more people than it can find space for in jails, letting some go and putting others under house arrest.
Benazir also threatened to launch a Lahore-Islamabad march next week unless General Musharraf fulfilled his commitment to retire as Army chief on November 15. Of course, she wants the government to accept her two other major demands as well, namely removal of the ban on two-time prime ministers to head a government again; and the repeal of article 58-2 (b) of the suspended Constitution, under which the President has the power to dismiss the assemblies. She iterated, "If General Musharraf wants to open the door for negotiations, he must restore the Constitution, retire as Chief of the Army Staff and stick to the schedule of holding elections." The mother of all issues at this point in time, though, is the confrontation between the President and the superior judiciary over what is widely seen as a seminal struggle for the rule of law. The PPP leader offered the public a much-needed reassurance on the subject when she said that after the Constitution is restored all judges will automatically be reinstated. She also reminded journalists that whereas General Musharraf had accused the judiciary of releasing some Lal Masjid militants, one of the detained justices had informed her that the two judges, who released those people, had taken oath under the PCO.
Talking to PML-Q leaders the same day, General Musharraf said the 'emergency' would be lifted as soon as possible, but not before a decision by the Supreme Court on petitions challenging his eligibility to contest the presidential election. The process, he opined, might take two to six months.
Thus he made it plain that contrary to a host of other justifications he cited for the November 3 action, the real reason was the legal challenge before an independent judiciary to his election bid. Whatever anyone may think of Benazir Bhutto as a politician, there is no room for disagreement with her on that the road to peace and conciliation goes through fair and free elections and full restoration of constitutional rule.
So far as she is concerned, "the ball is now in the government's court." Will the President play it or not? The answer to this question must not become a matter of personal ego. It is in the interest of this nation and the President himself that he plays this ball in a spirit of sportsmanship, acting with grace and magnanimity if the situation so demands. The alternative would be more chaos and confusion, of which this nation has had more than enough.