LAT : Pakistan chief justice rebukes Musharraf

Pakistan chief justice rebukes Musharraf

The president is ordered to release opposition figures on the same day he submits formal reelection papers.

By Laura King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer | September 27, 2007

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN -- With the capital under one of its tightest security lockdowns in years, Pakistan's chief justice issued a sharp new rebuke today to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, ordering the government to release scores of opposition figures rounded up in recent days.

The demand by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry came as Musharraf gave formal notice of his intention to seek reelection as president on Oct. 6, and as the Supreme Court prepared to rule on whether the Pakistani leader is eligible to run for office while holding the post of army chief.

Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, has promised to relinquish his military role if reelected to a five-year term as president next week by national and provincial assemblies. But his aides have said if he is not reelected, for whatever reason, he will remain army chief.

The opposition had vowed to stage massive protests today to physically prevent Musharraf's reelection papers from being filed. But authorities blocked all roads leading to the capital, Islamabad, triggering massive traffic jams as workers tried to reach their jobs and students were headed for school.

"Why, why, why?" asked trader Ashfaq Akhram, who was turned back at a police barricade after attempting to reach Islamabad from the nearby city of Rawalpindi. "If we are prevented even from going to our jobs, it seems to me that they have lost all authority."

Riot police in this normally tranquil capital also erected barricades and barbed wire to seal off streets surrounding the Election Commission building, where the nomination papers were filed. Musharraf did not appear personally for the filing; he sent Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

Also blocked off was the area around the high court, which is expected to hand down a landmark decision Friday on whether Musharraf is eligible to seek another term while holding his military post. Lawyers in somber black suits, barred from arriving by vehicle, trudged along the broad avenue leading to the court building, mopping sweat from their foreheads.

The opposition's threat to disrupt the filing of nomination papers triggered the arrests of scores of party activists beginning last Friday. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, in rare criticism of the Pakistani leader by the Bush administration, earlier this week called the roundup "extremely disturbing."

The Pakistani government said it would abide by the chief justice's order to free the jailed opposition figures. About 50 jailed activists, including several prominent leaders, were released in the hours after the order, but party officials said hundreds of lower-level members remained in jail.

Musharraf's government has said it will accept the court's ruling on whether he is eligible to stand for office. But many observers and analysts have said flatly that they do not believe the general will yield if disqualified, and fear that if the court verdict goes against him, he may impose emergency rule or martial law.

The Pakistani leader earlier this month showed his willingness to defy the high court when he summarily deported former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who flew to Pakistan on Sept. 10 after spending seven years in exile. The deportation came in spite of the court's order that the government allow Sharif to return unimpeded.

The 64-year-old general, whose standing was greatly eroded when he tried earlier this year to fire the popular chief justice, Chaudhry, is also engaged in delicate dealings with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who has said she will return to Pakistan on Oct. 18 to contest parliamentary elections to be held by mid-January.

The two camps tried for months to strike a power-sharing deal, but Bhutto says she will return regardless of whether there is one in place.

Among the other presidential candidates submitting notice to run were Wajihudding Ahmed, a former Supreme Court justice nominated by a lawyers group that has spearheaded demands for a return to civilian rule, and Makhdoom Amin Fahim, the vice chairman of Bhutto's party, though he said his candidacy is not yet finalized.

laura.king@latimes.com