ATTORNEY GENERAL REVIEWS CURRENT EVENTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 004786 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PK AEMR AMGT CASC KFLO PINR SUBJECT: ATTORNEY GENERAL REVIEWS CURRENT EVENTS REF: A. ISLAMABAD 4766 ¶B. ISLAMABAD 4728 Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Attorney General Qayyum told Ambassador November 7 that Musharraf would announce parliamentary elections once his own re-election was confirmed by the newly reconstituted Supreme Court. (Note: In the course of the evening of November 7, we heard three entirely different versions of Musharraf's plans for elections from cabinet ministers.) He predicted that a full, reconstituted Supreme Court would re-hear Musharraf's candidate eligibility case next week. Musharraf would resign as Chief of Army Staff soon after taking the presidential oath, but probably not by November 15. Qayyum promised action in the next few weeks to release jailed human rights activists and anti-government lawyers. He confirmed that all three former Supreme Court justices who were responsible for restoring Islamabad's extremist Red Mosque leadership were now part of the reconstituted court. End summary. Elections and the Uniform -------------- ¶2. (C) Pakistan's Attorney General Malik Qayyum requested to meet with the Ambassador late November 7. He said that Musharraf would call parliamentary elections once his own re-election was confirmed by the Supreme Court. This might be possible by mid-February. The government currently has convinced nine justices to serve on the newly reconstituted Supreme Court and is currently attempting to lure two more. The full 11-justice bench would then hear Musharraf's candidate eligibility case, probably early next week, and would hear arguments for about five days. ¶3. (C) Only once Musharraf took the oath of office would he resign as Chief of Army Staff (COAS),Qayyum claimed. He warned, however, that all of these steps "may not be completed by November 15," but believed the end of the month would be a reasonable target. (Note: Post heard three different election scenarios last night (Nov 7) from cabinet ministers.) Dissenting Voice -------------- ¶4. (C) Qayyum attempted to clarify his own role in advising against many of the government's recent heavy-handed measures. He said that (former) Supreme Court justices under house arrest would be free to return to their home towns by November 8. He claimed the house arrests were an overreaction to the Chief Justice's impromptu attempt November 3 to declare the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) illegal. ¶5. (C) Concerning the mass arrest of lawyers and human rights activists, Qayyum said Musharraf had approved these actions on bad advice from "people more loyal than the king." Qayyum claimed he was forming a list of human rights activists who should be released immediately and believed that many of the detained lawyers would also be released over the next week. ¶6. (C) Qayyum also promised that media restrictions would be lifted soon, including one local business news station that night. (Note: Urdu-language CNBC, affiliated with MSNBC, is back on the air.) Other local broadcasters would be up in the next few days. Red Mosque Irony -------------- ¶7. (C) The Ambassador raised the October 2 decision by the Supreme Court, which reopened Islamabad's Red Mosque, reinstated its radical imam, and released some detainees who had been arrested under Pakistan's anti-terrorist legislation. Musharraf, speaking to assembled ambassadors November 5, specifically referred to these detainees' release as evidence against the (former) Supreme Court. ¶8. (C) However, Qayyum confirmed that the newly reconstituted ISLAMABAD 00004786 002 OF 002 Supreme Court now includes three of the justices who had a hand in this case. Justices Nawaz Abbasi and Faqir Mohammad Khokhar originally opened the case on July 9 under the Court's suo moto authority; Abbasi with Justice Javed Buttar later ruled for the mosque on October 2. At this obvious irony, Qayyum could only retort: "You can't get rid of judges just because you disagree with some of their decisions." Other Cases -------------- ¶9. (C) According to Qayyum, the Supreme Court would tackle November 8 the contempt of court charges against GOP officials related to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's September 10 deportation. ¶10. (C) Qayyum asserted that the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) was a "bad law" and "would be struck down," though he noted the NRO might be upheld only because new Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar was originally appointed to the bench by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Qayyum said the GOP could have more easily effectuated the same result by withdrawing Bhutto's corruption cases currently before the Punjab Accountability Court. He said that there was no timetable for the Court to review the NRO, and, frankly, there was no rush. ¶11. (C) Alluding to the Court's suo moto review of detentions under Pakistan's anti-terrorist statutes, Qayyum revealed that the GOP was currently drafting a new law against "anti-state activities," including terrorist acts, which would specify an "acceptable detention period." Qayyum, however, did not specify what that period would be. Not Martial Law -------------- ¶12. (C) Lastly, Qayyum wanted "to counter international misperceptions regarding President Musharraf's November 3 imposition of emergency." He admitted that Musharraf's measures were "extra-constitutional," but argued that the precedent for such measures had been set by previous Pakistani leaders. ¶13. (C) Qayyum claimed that the (former) Supreme Court was about to rule against Musharraf because Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry would not forgive and forget Musharraf's efforts to sack him on March 12. Chaudhry had lined up anti-Musharraf votes, Qayyum was certain. Because of the recent increase in militant attacks in the Northwest Frontier Province, "the country could not afford to lose Musharraf." ¶14. (C) Qayyum said that Musharraf would legalize his actions. The National Assembly had met late November 7 to approve a resolution supporting the emergency (septel); the Senate "would meet soon," Qayyum stated. He noted that Musharraf had not installed military courts, regulations or governors, and mentioned that Musharraf had ordered the Army to stay in the barracks. ¶15. (C) Comment: Like many other government officials, Qayyum is sharing his own speculation about Musharraf's plans regarding the election and the uniform. Predictably, Qayyum showed no appreciation of the irony involved in replacing justices accused of abetting terrorism with the very judges who voted to put Maulana Aziz back in the Red Mosque's pulpit. End comment. PATTERSON