LARKANA, Pakistan, 31 August — Pakistani election authorities yesterday rejected the nomination papers of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto for Oct. 10 elections, triggering outrage from her party and other opposition groups. Election commission official Akhlaq Hussain Ladak declared her ineligible after scrutinizing her nomination for one of two seats she plans to contest in her home town of Larkana in southern Sindh province.
"She has been convicted by the anti-graft court (of absconding), therefore she is not qualified to contest the elections," Ladak told a courtroom at Ratto Dero near Larkana in Sindh province, about 1,200 kilometers southwest of Islamabad.
Benazir told Reuters in London she was "very shocked" by the decision and said she would appeal to the election tribunal and, if necessary, the high court. I am going to continue fighting," she said. Benazir said she would consider returning to Pakistan if her nomination was approved, even though she faced arrest. "I can contest the election from prison," she said. "I am confident of winning even if I am in prison."
President Pervez Musharraf has enacted laws under which people with criminal convictions cannot contest October’s polls. But Benazir — who has been living in self-exile in London and Dubai since 1998 — can still appeal the nomination decision at an election appellate tribunal.
The secretary-general of her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Raza Rabbani, told reporters in Karachi last night that despite the rejection of Benazir’s nomination, the party would not boycott the elections. "We will leave no stone unturned to discourage attempts aimed at Benazir’s ouster from the political scene," he said. Hundreds of PPP supporters who had gathered outside the court yesterday morning reacted angrily to the decision.
Benazir’s rejection was also condemned by Professor Ghafoor Ahmed, vice president of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a member of a six-party Muslim alliance — the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal. "It is a manifestation of victimization of opposition forces by the army regime," he said. Benazir’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the PPP was "surprised and disappointed" at yesterday’s decision, describing it as "a serious setback to the democratic process in this country."
