Government concerned over emergency rule

Pakistan:The Government and Opposition parties have expressed concern over the state of emergency in Pakistan and called for a peaceful transition towards democracy and civilian rule.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern yesterday said the Government was deeply concerned about President Pervez Musharraf's action in suspending Pakistan's constitution and the imposition of wide-ranging restrictions on the media and the supreme court.

Mr Ahern said it was essential that "every effort be made to reinstate the constitution, to lift restrictions on the media and the judiciary, and to return to the democratic process and early elections". Such moves were, he said, necessary for a peaceful transition to democratic government in Pakistan.

Mr Ahern repeated his advice to Irish citizens to travel to Pakistan only on essential business, and to remain alert to the uncertainty of the situation. He urged Irish citizens in Pakistan to exercise extreme caution and to communicate their contact details to the Irish Honorary Consul in Karachi.

However Fine Gael foreign affairs spokesman Billy Timmins called on the Government to take a strong line and suspend any aid or State funding directed to Pakistan. He said Gen Musharraf, who seized power in 1999, had "thrown Pakistan back into chaos with what the Pakistan media is calling 'his latest coup'.

"Since Pakistan became a republic in 1956 it has faced constant coups overthrowing attempts at democracy," he said.

"I am calling on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Government to protest strongly to the Pakistan government over the declaration of emergency. Mr Ahern should use his position to lobby both the US and the EU to suspend all aid from the Pakistani regime until the rule of law and the constitution restored. Democracy must not be sacrificed, and the rule of law abandoned, on the whims of military dictators."