IHT : Musharraf re-election plan disputed in Supreme court

Musharraf re-election plan disputed in Supreme court

By Salman Masood | September 18, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Supreme Court started hearing a set of petitions on Monday against the plans of Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, to be re-elected while still in military uniform.

Opposition political parties and pro-democracy lawyers have filed identical petitions in the country's highest court, increasing the pressure on Musharraf, 64, who is in the midst of one of the worst political crises of his eight-year rule.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, an opposition Islamic party, and Imran Khan, a politician and former cricket player, are urging the Supreme Court to disqualify Musharraf as a candidate in the coming elections.

A nine-member panel led by Justice Rana Bhagwandas started the formal hearing of the petitions on Monday, but turned down a request by Ahmed and Khan for a full panel of the Supreme Court to hear the legal challenges. The hearing is expected to last at least a week.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was reinstated by the Supreme Court in July after fending off an attempt by Musharraf to dismiss him, has chosen not to be a part of the panel hearing the petitions.

Musharraf took power in a bloodless coup in 1999. He is expected to announce the schedule for his re-election effort in the next few days. If he decides to run for another five-year term, he needs to file papers and stand for re-election by an electoral college of the national and provincial assemblies during the period from last Saturday through Oct. 15.

Opposition parties have said they will fight any move by Musharraf to participate in the elections while holding the office of military chief. The opposition has also lambasted the government for amendments the Election Commission announced over the weekend to the rules for presidential elections.

The new rules exempt the president from a ban on re-election bids by public servants unless they retire two years before the election date. The opposition says the amendments are aimed solely at helping his re-election.

Sherry Rehman, the central information secretary of the opposition Pakistan People's Party of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, said the amendments were an effort at "rigging" the election.

"Bending the rules to suit one-man rule has exposed the commission as a body that is unwilling to stand firm according to its constitutional mandate to hold all offices and contestants as equal before the law," Rehman said in a statement on Monday.

During the court hearing, Muhammad Akram Sheik, appearing on behalf of Ahmed, challenged the legitimacy of Musharraf's tenure.

Given that Musharraf initially seized power in a coup, there is a dispute about exactly when his term as president began. Sheik contended that Musharraf's presidency had already run out and that elections should have been held by Sept. 11, 2007. He said that a law introduced in 2004 allowing Musharraf to stay on as president and military leader was "discriminatory and should be struck down by the court."

He called the new rules for presidential elections announced by the commission as the "gravest contempt of the court."

Earlier, there was a harsh exchange of words between a government lawyer and Aitzaz Ahsan, the lawyer who successfully defended Chaudhry against President Musharraf's attempt to dismiss him. Ahsan was present in the court as amicus curiae, or a friend of the court who provides assistance.

Ahmed Raza Khan Kasuri, a firebrand lawyer who represents the government, strongly objected to the appointment of Ahsan as amicus curiae, questioning his impartiality and saying that Ahsan was politically opposed to President Musharraf.

Ahsan walked out of the court in protest. The court was adjourned until Tuesday.