Pakistanâs President Pervez Musharraf yesterday asked the countryâs Supreme Court to rule on whether a Taleban-style law is constitutional, officials said. Musharraf interceded after the Islamist-ruled regional legislature in North West Frontier Province passed Thursday a bill enforcing strict adherence to Islamic teachings. The court said Musharraf had asked the court to decide whether the so-called Hisbah, or accountability bill, was âunconstitutionally overboard and vague and suffers from excessive delegation.â âThe Supreme Court of Pakistan has issued notices to the government of North West Frontier Province and secretary of the provincial assembly to appear and assist the court,â Attorney General Makhdoom Ali Khan told reporters.
Under the legislation a watchdog will be set up with sweeping powers to reform society in accordance with âIslamic valuesâ and enforce the observance of such values in public places. Critics say the ombudsman is similar to the Taleban regimeâs Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. Provincial Law Minister Malik Zafar Azam said the assembly would stand up for the new legislation. âWe will strongly defend the law in the Supreme Court,â he said in the northwestern city of Peshawar, where hard-line legislators yesterday distributed sweets to celebrate what they said âvictory against secular forces.â |