Basil Fernando [Executive Director, Asian Legal Resource Centre]: "This note confines itself to the legal implications of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, though in fact it will also be felt enormously politically and socially. It is important to note that the assassination has taken place shortly after the country's higher judiciary was virtually wiped out by the dismissal of forty of the country's respected judges. With that act whatever the limited credibility Pakistan's judiciary might have had was lost. In the eyes of the people of the country their judiciary no longer enjoys their confidence. Whatever semblance of confidence that could have been built through an election, perceived to be relatively fair under the circumstances, is now also lost with the assassination of one of the two best known political leaders of the country. Added to this is the fact that President Musharraf himself no longer enjoys any legitimacy. Initially his legitimacy lied in the fact that he was the leader of the military and that, for better or for worse, he was holding power as a leader of the military. However, he is now no longer the leader of Pakistan's military. He can root his legitimacy only within the political framework of the country and yet now there is no political framework to speak of.

At the moment the greatest victims of the chaos within Pakistan are the middle class and the educated elite, including the professional classes. Over six thousand lawyers were arrested and very senior lawyers like Munir Malik, the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, who was tortured so severely that he suffered renal failure, is symbolic of this problem. At the time of writing this note news has also been received that the two daughters of Asma Jahangir, a well known lawyer and a United Nations Rapporteur were assaulted and threatened. One of the daughters narrowly escaped sexual abuse due to the timely intervention of her mother, who was also threatened by gunmen who belonged to the ruling party. Benazir Bhutto would have represented the country's elite, the middle class and the secular forces. Now, as there will be severe polarization within the country, there will be very little room left for this class. It is on this class of people that the running of the institutions of rule of law and democracy in terms of acceptable standards rests. The loss of the position of this class will severely imbalance the very foundations of legality in the country.

This will further help the polarization of the extremist elements, the army on the one hand and on the other, various sectarian forces which have been staging their revolts in this dangerous region of the world. Between them they will threaten all aspects of the legal system of the country. The gun and not the rule of law will conduct the social discourse. There are several countries in South Asia now which have fallen to this situation. One lesson that can be learned from them is that once this situation comes about, the plunge into the greater abyss of lawlessness is rapid. The very fact of the state losing its legitimacy will help other extreme forces because they no longer have to compete to demonstrate their positions as being more legitimate than the state. As the state is unable to conduct its affairs on the basis of legality it will also rely more on brute military force. When the legitimacy of the state is undermined this itself becomes the argument that justifies the actions of the extremists.

The loss of the significance of legality not only threatens individual freedoms but also the very property system itself. There are many examples in the Asian region that demonstrates how large scale assaults on property by way of land grabbing and enormous cheating in business activities can take place when law enforcement and the adjudicating power of the courts falter. Often various groups enjoying the patronage of the military become the most active elements in such situations. Under those circumstances a professional military is replaced with a military that has strong claims on property issues.

Under the present circumstances it is very doubtful as to whether any election will be perceived by the people as credible. It will take extraordinary attempts in order to convince the public of the legality of any election in the future. President Musharraf is very unlikely to take any such extraordinary steps to conduct an election that will be perceived as legitimate. Instead the public perception at the moment is that every possible attempt will be made to subvert a free and fair election. In all likelihood the ghost of Benazir Bhutto will haunt the people of the country, reminding them that there is something foul in the state of Pakistan."