In the current situation of the country, the political tension is at its peak, the economic situation is getting worse and worse, in such a situation, some circles are talking about the implementation of emergency.
In the current situation of the country, it is echoed in various circles, however, no final statement has been issued by the federal government.
What is this emergency and why and how is it enforced?
In this regard, Maria Memon, the host of ARY News’ program “Sawaal Yeh Hai”, gave a special discussion on it and informed the viewers about it in detail.
What does the constitution of Pakistan say?
Chapter No. 10 of the Constitution and its Article No. 232 to 237 on Emergency in Pakistan are very clear, Article 232 of the Constitution deals with imposition of emergency in two cases.
Firstly war or external aggression and secondly internal disturbance which is beyond the competence of the province to control.
The President of the State can also impose emergency, but in this case, the issue of emergency will be presented to both houses of the parliament, which will have to approve it within 10 days.
According to Article 233 of the Constitution, the President has the power to suspend certain fundamental rights with the declaration of emergency.
Article 234 of the Constitution is about the power to impose emergency in case of failure of constitutional machinery in the province, this emergency can be imposed only for two months but the joint session of parliament can extend it for another two months.
Article 235 of the Constitution deals with financial emergency.
What happens in an emergency?
In the year 2007, the then President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency in the country for the last time.
In this emergency, the constitution was suspended for 42 days from November 3 to December 15, 2007 and many judges including the Chief Justice were detained.
61 distinguished judges of the Supreme Court, including the then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, were declared inactive.
All the private news channels were taken off air on this occasion, only PTV broadcast the emergency orders.
On November 5, 2007, the police used tear gas and baton-charged activists of the Lawyers’ Movement protesting against the emergency in most cities of the country.
After the imposition of emergency, 13 of the 17 honorable judges of the Supreme Court refused to take oath under the PCO.
5 out of 6 constitutional petitions filed were rejected.
After the imposition of emergency, around 5,500 political activists were arrested from different cities of the country, who were released after the announcement of general elections on January 8, 2008.
On November 23, 2007, the Supreme Court upheld President Musharraf’s imposition of emergency, and on November 28, 2007, during a military ceremony, President Musharraf handed over the command of the Pakistan Army to General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
The next day, on November 29, 2007, President Musharraf took the oath of office for the second time in public dress.
By announcing the end of emergency, the constitution was restored.