IHT : High court allows Pakistan election to proceed

High court allows Pakistan election to proceed

By Salman Masood | October 5, 2007

ISLAMABAD: Court declines to halt vote, but Musharraf's candidacy unresolved

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the presidential election should go ahead as planned Saturday despite continuing legal challenges to the candidacy of the president, General Pervez Musharraf. But the justices said the results of the election should not be announced until the court reached a decision on those challenges.

"The election process shall continue as per the schedule announced by the Election Commission," Justice Javed Iqbal, the presiding judge, said.

He said the Supreme Court would resume hearings on the legality of Musharraf's candidacy starting Oct. 17.

Two of Musharraf's political opponents had sought to delay the election by challenging the general's eligibility to run for office while retaining his post as chief of the army. The Supreme Court's decision allows the election to proceed, and for Musharraf to participate while in uniform, but leaves open the question of whether his candidacy - and his election, which is widely expected - is legal under the Constitution.

The 10-member court issued the unanimous decision while hearing three petitions challenging Musharraf's eligibility to run for another five-year term and the acceptance of his nomination papers by the Election Commission.

Musharraf, 64, who seized power in a military coup in 1999, has seen opposition to his eight-year rule rise sharply recently because of his efforts to remain in power, including a failed attempt to remove the chief justice of the Supreme Court last March.

He has told the Supreme Court that he would resign his military post if re-elected for another five-year term as president. In an interview Thursday he said he would resign the post by Nov. 15, when his current term expires.

The Supreme Court decision was hailed by government lawyers, who had been demanding that the court not delay the electoral process.

"We are very happy with this decision," said Malik Muhammad Qayyum, Pakistan's attorney general, after the court ruling. "The election will be held, polling will take place and results will be compiled. Only a formal, official notification will not be issued."

Qayyum said the decision meant Musharraf would not be able to be sworn in for another term until a final verdict but suggested this would make little practical difference.

"President Musharraf can hold the office till Nov. 15 and the decision of these petitions will be announced before that date," he said.

Some opposition politicians voiced disappointment. "It will allow a person who is ineligible to contest elections," said Zafar Ali Shah, a politician from a main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League.

But others said the decision was not a setback. "It is a decision in the favor of the opposition lawyers," said Sardar Khurram Latif Khosa, another opposition lawyer.

"It is no way in favor of Musharraf, because he was wanting a clean slate, a clean way out," he said. "He wanted the petitions to be dismissed. So, it is like a hanging sword still on his head."

Shortly after the ruling, Pakistan's cabinet approved a "reconciliation ordinance" preparing the way for Musharraf to forge a power-sharing accord with the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, Reuters reported. Musharraf was due to promulgate an ordinance to quash corruption against Bhutto and others.