ISLAMABAD, 19 October 2007 — Pakistan’s Supreme Court rejected yesterday concerns that President Pervez Musharraf would declare martial law if it rules his controversial election victory invalid.
The Supreme Court is hearing challenges against his landslide victory in the Oct. 6 presidential election, which was boycotted by most of the opposition.
Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, cannot claim to have won re-election for another five-year term until the court decides. The general has not ruled out imposing martial law if the judgment goes against him.
“These threats have no value for us. This is an issue to be decided in accordance with the law and according to the merits,” Javed Iqbal, the head judge hearing the challenges, told the Supreme Court.
“The case will be decided in 10 to 12 days,” he told the court.
The court started Wednesday hearing petitions against Musharraf’s victory lodged by two candidates in the election who say Musharraf was ineligible to stand while he is still army chief.
The court had ruled earlier this month that the election could go ahead but the official result could not be announced until it resolved the challenges.
The general has vowed to step down as army chief and become a civilian ruler once his victory is declared official.
His current term finishes on Nov. 15.
President Musharraf has been at loggerheads with the Supreme Court since his failed bid in March to sack the chief justice, a move that sparked mass protests and a slump in popularity for the US ally.
A bloody raid on a radical Islamabad mosque in July has also dented his popularity at home.
