ISLAMABAD, 2 August 2007 — President Pervez Musharraf has said he wants “harmonious ties” with Pakistan’s chief justice, whose suspension by the military ruler was overturned by the top court earlier this month.
Musharraf said he accepted a July 20 Supreme Court verdict that reinstated top judge Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. Chaudhry’s fightback against his March ouster turned him into an icon of opposition to the embattled president.
In his first public comments on the case, Musharraf said he had personal relations with Chaudhry dating from before the judicial crisis erupted in March.
“We had family ties and hope to maintain same harmonious ties in future,” the official Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Musharraf as telling a ceremony late Tuesday at the offices of state-run Pakistan Television.
“I accept the judgment of the judiciary and honor it,” the president said.
But in an apparent swipe at Chaudhry’s high-profile campaign to win back his job, Musharraf said that “personal egos” should not be involved in national matters and that the judiciary should not be politicized.
General elections are also due in Pakistan by early 2008.
Analysts have said that Chaudhry’s reinstatement could open the floodgates for legal challenges against Musharraf’s dual position as army chief and president, and also against alleged electoral irregularities.
In the first such case, the Supreme Court said on Monday that it would hold preliminary hearings on a challenge to Musharraf’s military role, which was filed by the leader of Pakistan’s main alliance of hard-line parties.
