ISLAMABAD, 23 November 2007 — Pakistan’s Supreme Court yesterday threw out a final challenge to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s re-election and paved the way for him to quit as army chief.
In a short order after hearing the petition, the sixth and final challenge to Musharraf’s Oct. 6 re-election, Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar said “dismissed”. This ruling opened the way for another five years of Musharraf’s rule.
The long-awaited ruling comes as Musharraf faces the prospect of Pakistan’s second suspension from the Commonwealth since he took power in 1999, because he continues to resist calls to fully lift emergency rule imposed on Nov. 3.
Attorney General Malik Qayyum said before the ruling he expected Musharraf to be sworn in for a second term “by the weekend or immediately thereafter.”
Musharraf’s top legal adviser, Sharifuddin Pirzada, said there was now no legal obstacle to his re-election. “Now the court has to give us this in writing,” Pirzada said.
Musharraf had told the Supreme Court that he would take oath of office as a civilian president once the verdict is announced.
Musharraf has started to roll back the state of emergency, freeing around 5,000 lawyers, opposition and rights activists detained in a round-up of opponents. Those freed include Imran Khan, who called for a poll boycott. “It’s a complete fraud. Participating in this election would mean giving legitimacy to Musharraf’s violation of the constitution,” Imran said.
Opposition parties led by Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister Musharraf allowed back to Pakistan, and exiled Nawaz Sharif have yet to come up with a common strategy. Benazir told party workers yesterday to start campaigning for upcoming general elections but warned she might still order a boycott of the vote.
In a sign of the splits within the fractious opposition, she gave the green light for her Pakistan People’s Party candidates to file nomination papers by Monday’s deadline despite the state of emergency. However she protested at what she said were government attempts to rig the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections and cautioned that her party may still pull out.
—Additional input from agencies
