The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group is meeting in London on Monday in an emergency session to consider suspension of Pakistan for the second time from the 53-member body in the light of President Pervez Musharraf's decision to impose emergency in the country.
President Musharraf's decision to suspend the constitution before a court ruling on the legality of his re-election came only three weeks before a meeting of the nine Commonwealth Foreign Ministers in the action group in Uganda, which is now expected to be dominated by Pakistan's membership.
According to sources, Tanzania could insist on the summit to suspend Pakistan for the second time in less than a decade over its commitment to democracy. Pakistan was suspended in 1999 after General Musharraf overthrew Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup.
African states, which have been warned against staging military coups, feel strongly that they were duped by Britain into allowing Pakistan back into the commonwealth in 2004 with a promise from General Musharraf that he would shed his uniform.
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, an NGO, has also been campaigning for the suspension of Pakistan. In a statement it said things have gone 'very wrong in Pakistan' and its journey towards democracy was further derailed when Musharraf declared a state of emergency that suspended the Constitution, sacked members of the Supreme Court and suppressed all dissent across the country.
The CHRI said the response of the global community to this development has ranged between outright condemnation of a virtual coup to reserved comments based in alliance, rather than recognition of the absolute disregard for democracy, the rule of law and judicial independence.
"No one -- least of all its South Asian neighbours -- wants an unstable, fragmented and ungovernable Pakistan. Musharraf claims that the emergency is a move to ensure stability -- and uses the threat of terrorism to justify the suppression of political opposition.
"The reality is that the emergency is creating exactly the environment that it seeks to prevent, and is putting regional security, democratic governance and the well being of Pakistani communities at grave risk," the CHRI said.
It said the CMAG is the opportunity for the Commonwealth to reaffirm unequivocally that democracy, democratic processes and institutions, the rule of law and just, and honest government are the fundamental political values of the Commonwealth, as set out in the Harare Declaration, the set of principles that CMAG is mandated to protect.
"Swift action signaling total disapproval of the General's actions will reinforce that membership of the Commonwealth is predicated on an absolute promise to protect and promote these values. CMAG has taken action before -- in Nigeria following the imposition of military rule in 1995 and in Fiji late last year, after Commodore Bainarama overthrew the democratically elected government," it said.
The CMAG comprises the Foreign Ministers of nine countries -- Canada, Lesotho, Malaysia, Malta, Papua New Guinea, St Lucia, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom and United Republic of Tanzania.