Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf lifted the six-week-old state of emergency and restored the Constitution yesterday -- after making last-minute changes to it -- easing a crackdown that has enraged opponents and worried Western supporters.
Information Minister Nisar Memon said Musharraf had signed the order lifting the emergency.
He called it a "historic day" and said next month's parliamentary elections would cement the country's return to democracy.
PHOTO: AP
"The caretaker government is under oath to hold free, fair, transparent and impartial elections to put the country back on track," Memon said.
Musharraf, who was to make a televised address to the nation yesterday evening, still faces criticism at home and abroad that the Jan. 8 ballot will be flawed.
The US-backed leader cast Pakistan into turmoil and raised serious doubts over the credibility of the vote, which will determine who will form the country's new government, by imposing emergency rule on Nov. 3.
Musharraf has said he imposed the state of emergency to halt a "conspiracy" by top judges to end his eight-year rule and ward off political chaos that would hobble Pakistan's efforts against Islamic extremism.
He has also insisted that the Supreme Court, which had been poised to rule on the legality of his October re-election, was acting beyond the Constitution.
But his moves on Friday to tweak the Constitution to shore up his legal defenses appeared to confirm the opinion of many legal experts that the president's case had been weak.
The president removed a condition from the charter stating that civil servants had to wait two years after their retirement before running for elected office, Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum said.
Musharraf stepped down as army chief only last month.
Qayyum said other changes sealed the retirement of purged Supreme Court judges, including former Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry.
Their replacements swiftly approved Musharraf's re-election in October by a parliament stacked with his supporters.
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