Pak SC allows Musharraf to contest polls in uniform

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday dismissed legal challenges to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's bid for a new five-year term.

"These petitions are held to be non-maintainable," presiding Judge Rana Bhagwandas told the court, drawing howls of protests from lawyers in the gallery.

"Shame, shame!" and "Go, Musharraf, go!" they said as they pumped their fists in the air in the packed, cavernous courtroom.

The 6-3 decision in favour of the military leader allows him to contest the Oct. 6 election while army chief and removes the main obstacle to his staying in office. Bhagwandas said the court would explain its reasoning later.

Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani urged people to respect the ruling. Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum said the way was clear now for Musharraf to run.

“Absolutely, there is no hurdle for it,'' Qayyum said. The government has insisted all along that Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup, is a qualified candidate. Critics have countered that he cannot run because he has retained his position as powerful army chief.

With his popularity and clout eroding, the general has said he would doff his uniform if he wins a new presidential term in the vote by federal and provincial legislators. Government lawyers said he would continue as army chief if he is not re-elected.

Musharraf has faced growing political opposition since he failed attempt to oust Pakistan's top judge in March and is struggling to contain growing Islamic militancy.

Friday's ruling bitterly disappointed activists from the opposition and the legal fraternity who saw the ruling as an acid test of whether the military could be divorced from politics.

Farid Piracha, a lawmaker from Pakistan biggest religious party Jamaat-e-Islami, which had filed one of the several petition challenging Musharraf's eligibility to run, said he refused to accept the ruling.

“The judges have not fulfilled their constitutional obligation,'' Piracha said. ``Now our fight against dictatorship will be on the streets ... This decision does not reflect the sentiments of the people, and it will not be accepted.”

Javed Hashmi, acting leader of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party, said their lawmakers would resign from Parliament _ an opposition strategy aiming to rob the election of legitimacy.

“We will submit our resignations and not become part of this illegal election process,” Hashmi said outside the court.
A lawyer for Imran Khan, a former cricket star and now the outspoken leader of a small opposition party, decried the ruling as a taint on the judiciary that had asserted itself when Musharraf attempted to oust the chief justice.

``We thought the judiciary had become independent. But what we have seen today shows that we have a long way to go,'' lawyer Hamid Khan said. ``It is a wrong decision and it will be proven wrong by the history of Pakistan.''

Lawyers say that if the Election Commission approves Musharraf's candidacy on Saturday, the only legal recourse would be to challenge it in a provincial high court, which could take months. The commission has already changed presidential election rules in Musharraf's favour.

The capital appeared calm Friday. A massive security lockdown the previous day designed to prevent anti-Musharraf protests was lifted following an order by the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry on Thursday ordered the release of some 200 or more opposition leaders arrested for trying to derail Musharraf's re-election plan. The detentions have drawn rare public criticism from the United States, Pakistan's main ally.

Musharraf's legislative allies filed his nomination papers Thursday, confidently predicting victory and portraying it as a landmark for democracy in Pakistan.

Another 42 candidates also filed to contest the vote, including retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, nominated by lawyers, and Makhdoom Amin Fahim, vice chairman of ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party. But the PPP has said Fahim would only run if Musharraf were disqualified.

Bhutto's party is still holding out hope of a power-sharing deal with Musharraf after parliamentary elections due by January. But she told CNN on Thursday that she was increasingly pessimistic.

"I worry that time is running out,'' she said. Bhutto plans to return next month from self-exile. She has threatened to withdraw her lawmakers from Parliament if Musharraf does not compromise.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com