'Imposing Emergency was the right thing to do'

Islamabad: Imposing emergency was “a bitter pill” but it was the “right thing” to do, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf said on Sunday.

The country’s National Assembly and four provincial assemblies will be dissolved in the coming days so that a general election can take place before January 9, Musharraf said in his first press conference after imposing Emergency on November 3.

The National Assembly would be dissolved on November 15 and the four provincial assemblies on November 20. "This is history, ladies and gentlemen, because this is the first time all the assemblies will have completed their terms," Musharraf said in the conference at his army camp office in Rawalpindi.

Caretaker governments would be formed in the three provinces of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan by November 20. The North West Frontier Province already has a caretaker set-up, as the provincial government resigned last month.

Musharraf said he would take oath of office as a civilian President after the Supreme Court gives its verdict on the validity of his re-election as President on October 6 while being the Army chief.

"I did not violate the constitution and the law of this land," he said, adding that he decided to speak to the media to end "aspirations, rumours and speculation about my intentions".

Musharraf alleged he imposed Emergency—which he said was the ''most difficult'' decision” he had ever made—because "only one" or "very few members" of the judiciary were clashing with the executive and the legislature and humiliating police and law enforcing agencies.

Musharraf, who is under pressure from the international community to restore democracy, said he did the “right thing” by imposing Emergency because Pakistan was on a stage of turmoil and confusion.

Musharraf said the government was in "paralysis" and needed to be "reinvigorated". He did not say when he intended to end emergency rule, and said it reinforced efforts to fight terrorism, a spate of suicide attacks and the militancy in North West Frontier Province.