ISLAMABAD, 10 August 2007 — Pakistan’s Supreme Court yesterday began deliberating an application by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to have his exile overturned and be permitted to return to the country.
Sharif lodged his appeal earlier this month to end seven years of exile, which began when he was overthrown in a coup by military ruler President Pervez Musharraf in October 1999.
The application was heard by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was suspended by Musharraf on allegations of corruption and conflict of interest before being reinstated by the Supreme Court last month.
“It is Nawaz Sharif’s unconditional and unequivocal right to return to the country, which cannot be either curtailed or denied,” his lawyer Fakharuddin Ibrahim told the court. Returning to Pakistan was a “fundamental right,” Ibrahim said, adding that Sharif’s desire to come home was “linked with his concerns for the future of democracy in the country.”
“We are concerned with the future of parliamentary democracy in the country, which cannot be undone by a gentleman in uniform,” Ibrahim said, referring to Musharraf. The appeal comes after Sharif and another former premier, Benazir Bhutto — who is living in self-imposed exile due to corruption charges — have both said they would return to Pakistan for elections that are due by early next year.
Sharif still officially heads his faction of the Pakistan Muslim League party from exile, while Benazir is the leader of the Pakistan People’s Party. Musharraf after meeting with aides yesterday decided not to impose a state of emergency, sources said.
However, if emergency rule is declared, the elections could be delayed by one year if the measure is endorsed by the current Parliament. Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azeem told AFP the emergency measure had been discussed and could not be ruled out, as Musharraf battles an upsurge in militant violence in the volatile tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
Azeem earlier told local television that any decision on emergency rule would have nothing to do with Sharif’s appeal.
Ibrahim told reporters: “I do not see any reasons for imposition of emergency by a government that claims to be very strong.” Sharif was prime minister from 1990 to 1993 and again from 1997 to 1999.
