Word: martially
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...step down as chief of the army if he were elected. Many opposition politicians interpreted that as a threat: if he is not reelected, by whatever reason, be it a Supreme Court injunction, or a lack of quorum in Parliament brought about by a mass resignation, the declaration of martial law would be the next step...
...threat of martial law has been made explicit by Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid. "If the opposition adopts an extremist policy [by resigning from parliament over Musharraf's bid to be reelected in uniform]," he told a press conference, "it could lead to extreme decisions [by the government] which could be unfortunate for the country...
...Martial law would certainly have far-reaching consequences: In addition to the suspension of the constitution, parliamentary elections, due by January, would be postponed at least another year. Opposition parties, already weakened by the secondary role to which they've been reduced in almost eight years of rule by the general, would likely lose support to more extremist opposition groups...
...threat of martial law certainly gives parliamentarians, politicians and Supreme Court justices pause to consider whether a weakened, but still functioning, constitutional democracy may be preferable. But Musharraf may be restrained from the martial law option by its potentially devastating consequences: It would force those looking to unseat him to take to the streets and confront the state, and if that forced the military to fire upon fellow Muslims, nothing would make Osama bin Laden happier. In his audio tape released on Thursday, bin Laden said that Musharraf's government and soldiers were "all accomplices in spilling the blood...
...infidel who has spilled Muslim blood further cements his illegitimacy in the eyes of the militants leading an insurgency in the mountainous tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan. They may care little for the intricate political maneuverings of courts and lawyers far away in the capital, but if martial law were to be established, it wouldn't just be war against Musharraf, but jihad against the entire government. And if the Pakistani state found itself at war with a significant section of its own people, its effectiveness as an ally in the war on terror would...