Musharraf Declaration Seen as Latest Misstep

Once the move was made, the battle lines were drawn for a classic Pakistani struggle: the lawyers vs. the generals. But it also galvanized the public against military rule for the first time since Musharraf came to power in a 1999 coup.

"The photograph that was published in the newspapers showing an arrogant General Musharraf in full military regalia with the chief justice, rapping his knuckles like he was a young schoolboy, that shook the nation," said Aitzaz Ahsan, who led a successful nationwide campaign for Chaudhry's restoration. "Naturally, the lawyers felt the pain more than anyone else."

Ahsan spoke in an interview late last week, before he and dozens of other senior lawyers were arrested in the hours after Musharraf's emergency declaration.

Pakistan was founded by a lawyer, the moderate and secular-minded Mohammed Ali Jinnah. But it is the generals who have reigned supreme for more than half of the country's 60-year history. All have come to power on promises of staying only a short while and voluntarily restoring democratic rule as soon as the time was right. None have kept their word.

Musharraf had vowed to be different. But critics say the general has spent the year confirming that he has little interest in ever yielding to others. His government violently suppressed opposition protests. It shut down the independent media when coverage became too intense. And it deported Musharraf's predecessor, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, in violation of a Supreme Court order.

Saturday's decision, critics say, is the final proof of Musharraf's true nature.

"This is consistent with who he is. He wants all power all the time," said Talat Masood, a retired general and political analyst. "He's not prepared to share power with anyone."

Musharraf, though, is not alone in that respect, Masood said.

"Each of our leaders, whether military or civilian, thinks he or she is the sole custodian of patriotism and nationalism," Masood said. "This is the Greek tragedy of Pakistan."

Now, Musharraf's fate might be in the hands of those other leaders. Musharraf has an anemic public approval rating -- 21 percent, according to a recent survey -- and has angered his most important international backer, the United States. Now that he has declared emergency rule, it is unclear where he goes next.

"Unfortunately, the inevitable outcome of such decisions is that you end up retreating into a bunker with a siege mentality," said Hussain, the Musharraf adviser. "You try to shoot your way through, but at the end of the day, you can't."

Many analysts say they think there's an opening for Musharraf's political opponents to mobilize against him. Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, for instance, has the ability to bring hundreds of thousands of people into the streets against Musharraf.

But it is unclear whether she will; she has been negotiating a power-sharing arrangement with Musharraf for months, and any street agitation by her supporters would jeopardize those talks.

The top leaders of other opposition parties have been imprisoned. While the lawyers are certain to protest, their numbers are comparatively small. And with independent television blacked out, the police and army could use violence to put down anti-Musharraf demonstrations without inflaming public opinion.

Meanwhile, the most influential constituency in Pakistan -- the military -- seems to be solidly behind Musharraf, at least for now.

Musharraf seems to believe he has something else going for him as well. The general has survived suicide attacks, a plane hijacking and even an instance when he fell out of a mango tree. "I have confronted death and defied it several times in the past because destiny and fate have always smiled on me," Musharraf wrote in his 2006 memoirs. "I only pray that I have more than the proverbial nine lives of a cat."