NYT : Pakistanis to Vote With Musharraf’s Status in Doubt

Pakistanis to Vote With Musharraf’s Status in Doubt

By SALMAN MASOOD | October 6, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 5 — The Supreme Court ruled today that the presidential election should go ahead as planned on Saturday despite legal challenges against the candidacy of the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. But it said the results of the election should not be announced until it gives a final verdict on the legal dispute.

A day before the vote, the Supreme Court ruling gave the green light for the election to go ahead, and for General Musharraf to seek re-election while still in military uniform, but it still left open the question of whether his candidacy — and his victory in the election, which is widely expected — would be legal under the constitution.

Two of General Musharraf’s political opponents had sought to delay the election by challenging his eligibility to contest the vote while he is still also holding the post of chief of the army.

“The election process already commenced shall continue as per the schedule notified by the election commission,” Justice Javed Iqbal, the presiding judge, said, adding that the Supreme Court will resume the hearing of the petitions against President Musharraf’s eligibility from Oct. 17.

The ten-member bench of the Supreme Court gave the unanimous decision while hearing three petitions challenging the eligibility of General Musharraf to run in the presidential elections and challenging the acceptance of his nomination papers by the election commission.

President Musharraf, 64, seized power in a military coup in 1999. Opposition to his eight-year rule has risen sharply recently as he finds himself in the midst of a serious political and legal crisis. He has told the Supreme Court that he will resign his military post if re-elected for another term as president, but not before. In a television interview Thursday, he gave more details about his plans, saying he would resign the military post by Nov. 15, when his current presidential term expires.

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

“We are very happy with this decision,” Malik Muhammad Qayyum, the attorney general, said after the court ruling. “Election will be held, polling will take place and results will be compiled. Only a formal, official notification will not be issued.”

Mr. Qayyum said the decision meant General Musharraf would not be able to take oath for another term until a final verdict was issued. but he suggested this delay would not make much 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 said they were disappointed with the judgment. “It will facilitate a person who is ineligible to contest elections,” said Zafar Ali Shah, an opposition politician from the opposition political party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

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 who was standing outside the court after the judgment.

“It is no way in favor of Musharraf because he was wanting a clean slate... a clean way out. He wanted the petitions to be dismissed. So, it is like a hanging sword still on his head. The decision can go either way.”