In November 2007, eight years after he first seized power, and six years after declaring himself president, General Pervez Musharraf staged his second coup against the rule of law in Pakistan. He declared martial law, suspended the Constitution and basic rights, and dismissed the Supreme Court. He also banned independent television, now the main source in Pakistan for news, commentary and political debate, and threatened the print media, because he said it was "demoralising the nation".
After weeks of protests, during which thousands of people were arrested, President Musharraf gave up the post of Chief of Army Staff, announced the 'lifting' of the emergency, and said the Constitution was being restored. In fact, the emergency has been made permanent. President Musharraf has introduced an amended Constitution by decree, one that is meant to protect him from any legal challenge and which gives him more powers as president, taking them away from the office of the prime minister, who is meant to be the head of government. This includes the power to appoint the Chief of the Army and to control Pakistan's nuclear weapons. He has also appointed a new Supreme Court, enabled military courts to hold closed-door trials of civilians, and imposed a series of restrictions on the media to prevent criticism of himself and the army. None of these actions, however, are enough to give him either the unchecked power or the legitimacy that he and the army want. The challenges that President Musharraf and the army face are too deep and too fundamental for such easy solutions.
The second coup announcement was titled "Proclamation of Emergency declared by Chief of the Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf", and ended: "I hereby order and proclaim that the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan shall remain in abeyance." The text was a litany of complaints about the Pakistani courts, the only branch of government that the general and his army did not control. Gen Musharraf had previously rigged parliamentary elections in 2002, hand-picked a prime minister, and replaced many senior generals with loyalists. The basic allegation that Gen Musharraf levelled against Pakistan's courts, especially against the Supreme Court, was that they were subverting his administration. His proclamation claimed that the court's "constant interference in executive functions, including but not limited to the control of terrorist activity, economic policy, price controls, downsizing of corporations and urban planning, has weakened the writ of the government". It further lamented "the humiliating treatment meted to government officials by some members of the judiciary on a routine basis during court proceedings". In short, the court was holding Gen Musharraf's policies up to the light of the law –and finding them wanting in every area.
But Gen Musharraf's real grievance against the court was not that it was an obstacle to the unrestricted exercise of power by his government. The problem was that it would not bend the law to his will. The court was imminently expected to rule that under the Constitution the general could not be president. Gen Musharraf suddenly found himself faced with the choice of acting as president and being bound by the Constitution and the law of the land, or ruling as chief of the army through martial law and force. The general chose khaki.