Pakistan’s politicians frequently speak of their desire to restore the supremacy of the country’s parliament. The lawyers’ movement has been accused by some politicians, including from the PPP, of subverting this principle.
But the parliament itself has constraints. On today’s Kamran Khan show, retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed made an excellent point: the constitution, [...]

Musharraf suspends constitution, declares emergency rule, and imposes Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO)

Transmission of news channels shut down in Pakistan
Supreme Court Chief Justice sacked, arrested and replaced with Musharraf loyalist
Over 1500 civilians arrested
Senior figures jailed or house arrested:

Lawyers’ movement: Aitzaz Ahsan, Munir Malik, Ali Ahmad Kurd, Tariq Mehmood, Ikram Chaudhry, Syed Muhammad Shah, and Ahsan [...]

November 6: Earliest date for Supreme Court ruling on Pervez Musharraf’s re-election eligibility
November 7: Possible date for Nawaz Sharif departure of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for London
November 8: Benazir Bhutto expected to return to Pakistan from Dubai
November 8: Supreme Court to receive report from Sindh government on Bhutto blasts
November 9: Bhutto to hold rally in Rawalpindi
November [...]

Developments in Pakistan in recent days further the view for both insiders and outsiders that the country is a perplexing bowl of contradictions and political intrigue.
KSE RISES
The Karachi Stock Exchange closed at all-time highs on Monday and Tuesday. Investor confidence boosted due to Pervez Musharraf’s re-election as president (pending the validation of [...]

From Nawaz Sharif’s ill-fated return to the Supreme Court petitions against his presidential candidacy, Pervez Musharraf has successfully pulled the air out of his opposition’s more dramatic attempts to oppose his rule. Friday’s Supreme Court dismissal of the anti-Musharraf petitions strongly suggests an arrangement between the High Court and Musharraf pre-figured the outcome well [...]

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has just ruled that petitions by Imran Khan (Tehreek-e Insaaf) and Qazi Hussain Ahmed (Jamaat-e Islami) that protested Pervez Musharraf’s eligibility for presidential re-election are “unmaintainable.” This clears the way for Musharraf’s re-election via an electoral college consisting of the national parliament and provincial assemblies. The lawyer’s movement [...]