Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency within the country Saturday, suspending the constitution and the parliamentary elections scheduled for January.

The actions of Pakistan’s head of government are likely to affect the stability in the region, and the United States’ long-term goals, said Christopher Jones, chair of the political science department.

“The recent instability in Pakistan is troubling, because it does risk the U.S. goal of seeing Pakistan move closer toward the establishment of a legitimate democracy,” Jones said. “Musharraf was inching in that direction, but recent violence and his subsequent emergency decree jeopardizes this process, which I think is counter to America’s long-term security interests.”

Pakistan is considered a key ally in U.S. counter-terrorism operations. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the U.S. has provided Pakistan with $10.59 billion in aid since Sept. 11, 2001. Seventy-five percent of the aid has paid for Pakistan’s military and counter-terrorism activities.

Jones said the U.S. enjoys a great deal of cooperation from Pakistan, including access to military bases, border security with Afghanistan and identification and detention of extremists.

“Pakistani authorities have made a number of important al-Qaida arrests and turned over more than 500 al-Qaida and Taliban fighters to the United States,” Jones said.

Musharraf’s suspension of the constitution occurred before the Supreme Court was to rule on whether his re-election as president was legal, according to CNN.

Opposing parties have said that Musharraf cannot be president as long as he remains chief of Pakistan’s army.

Earlier this year, Musharraf fired the chief justice of the Pakistani Supreme Court, but reinstated him after a clash between supporters in May left 49 dead.

But the cause of the civil unrest may be related to Pakistan’s relationship with the U.S., said Tomis Kapitan, chair of the philosophy department.

Kapitan said the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan have destabilized the region and have created a deep resentment for the U.S.

“To solve the problem we have supposedly created, he’s had to curtail democratic freedoms, which we sponsor,” Kapitan said.

Both Jones and Kapitan said the United States should maintain pressure on Pakistan to “get back on the road to a constitutional democracy,” as Kapitan put it.

On Tuesday, The Associated Press reported that the Pakistani government will discuss a timetable for parliamentary elections.