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PARIS: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was roundly condemned across the world on Saturday for declaring a state of emergency in the troubled country, a repeat of the gambit that brought him to power in 1999.
From diplomatically phrased expressions of regret from key allies in the worldwide fight against al-Qaeda, to fiery denunciations from his political rivals at home, the reaction was uniformly negative across the globe.
"This action is very disappointing," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
"President Musharraf needs to stand by his pledges to have free and fair elections in January and step down as chief of army staff before retaking the presidential oath of office," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "Whatever happens, we will be urging for a quick return to a constitutional order, we will be urging that the commitment to hold free and fair elections be kept and we would be urging calm among the parties."
In a televised address to the nation, Musharraf said he had imposed an emergency because terrorism in Pakistan was at its peak while the government is in "semi-paralysis" through the behaviour of the Supreme Court.
"The situation had been changing very fast. Terrorism and extremism are at their extreme," Musharraf said, citing a number of recent blasts including one
in Karachi that killed 139 people.
But in Britain, Foreign Secretary David Miliband stressed the need for Pakistan to harness "the power of democracy and the rule of law to achieve the goals of stability, development and countering terrorism."
"I am gravely concerned by the measures adopted today, which will take Pakistan further from these goals," said Miliband in a statement.
In Brussels, the European Union's executive arm expressed similar concerns.
"Pakistan needs a rapid return to civilian rules and democracy. The EU has been supporting the electoral process," a Commission spokesman told AFP.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon said: "It is a step in the wrong direction and a serious setback to democracy."
Pakistan was expelled from the 53-nation club for five years when Musharraf seized power.
In Stockholm, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt warned that the move could fuel more violence in Pakistan.
"This is serious and very worrying. This is absolutely not the solution to Pakistan's problems," Bildt said.
Reaction was more muted in India, Pakistan's neighbour and nuclear rival, with the country's foreign ministry merely expressing its "regrets" at Musharraf's move.
"We wish them stability and we look forward to conditions which will facilitate conditions for democracy to be restored in that country," said India's junior foreign minister Anand Sharma.
But political parties allied to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Sigh's Congress-party ruling coalition reacted sharply, and the main opposition BJP party prodded New Delhi to react strongly to the developments.
"Musharraf has shown his true colours as a military dictator and this imposition of emergency will not only have an impact in Parkistan but also in the entire South Asia region," BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy warned.
Musharraf's political rivals were similarly unsparing in their criticism.
Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto told Britain's Sky News television that the country was regressing towards greater dictatorship under Musharraf.
"The public and I am bitterly disappointed," Bhutto said.
Another ex-prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, called on Musharraf to step down.
"Nobody will believe elections held under Musharraf now. Pakistan is sinking. It is heading toward chaos," Sharif, who was toppled by Musharraf in a 1999 coup, told the private Geo television.
Opposition politician and cricket legend Imran Khan went a step further, suggesting that Musharraf should face the death penalty for declaring emergency rule.
- AFP /ls
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