MUSHARRAF SAYS HE WILL LIFT MARTIAL LAW, BUT WHERE ARE THE LAWYERS AND JUDGES HE THREW IN JAIL?

Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf has agreed to rescind his emergency rule order on December 16th, reports Pamela Constable for The Washington Post today.

"Musharraf stepped down as army chief on Wednesday, meeting a key demand of opposition groups and Western allies. As he was sworn in to a new five-year term on Thursday, he pledged to seek reconciliation with opponents and move the country toward the "complete essence of democracy." But he also lashed out at the West for its "obsession" with a version of democracy and human rights that he said does not fit Pakistani society."

Oh, is it "western obsession" to object to the firing of the Chief Justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court when he disagrees with allowing you Musharraf to run for president at the same time as you are head of the army? And I wonder how Pakistani lawyers will understand a "version of democracy" that says there should not be free speech and free association? Or how about the lawyers and judges now in incarceration because they dared to disagree with Musharraf's stunted understanding of "democracy" - how will they understand Musharraf's version of democracy?