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Nov 22 2007

Court clears Musharraf re-election

Global

By Agencies

Pervez Musharraf, right, has promised to resign his post as head of the army [AFP]
The last challenge to general Pervez Musharraf's re-election as Pakistan's president has been dismissed by the country's supreme court.

The court, made up of judges hand-picked by Musharraf, on Thursday dismissed a sixth and final legal challenge against his re-election.

Government officials said Musharraf could now quit his post as chief of the army and take the presidential oath as a civilian as early as Saturday.

Malik Mohammed Qayyum, the attorney-general, said: "It may happen on Saturday. I know the president, and he will honour his commitment."

Final obstacle

The case before the court centered on a claim by Zahoor Mehdi, a potential rival presidential candidate, who was blocked by the election commission from competing in the vote.

In depth

He argued the decision was wrong, but the court said his nomination papers were not valid.

Five other cases challenging the election were either thrown out or withdrawn on Monday.

Sharifuddin Pirzada, Musharraf's chief legal adviser, said there was now no legal obstacle to his re-election.

Pirzada said: "Now the court has to give us this in writing."

The court is also considering challenges to Pakistan's emergency rule, declared on November 2, with a decision expected later in the day.

Musharraf has decreed new amendments to the constitution using powers he said he has under the emergency.

One of the amendments stated that his decisions cannot be challenged by any court and will be considered "always to have been validly made".

Khan released

Meanwhile, more than 5,000 people detained during Pakistan's state of emergency, including Imran Khan, the opposition leader, have been freed from jail over the past two days.

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said the release was a "good step" toward restoring constitutional rule, but others were still needed.

She said: "Well, I do see that a number of figures, opposition figures, have been released. But that's a good step. But it's one step of what's needed."

Washington has been hoping for a rapprochement between Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister, and Musharraf, who US officials call a key ally in confronting the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Bhutto, however, has talked recently of joining forces with Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister, if emergency rule is not swiftly ended.

But Sharif said that he had failed to convince her in a telephone conversation on Wednesday to join him in boycotting elections due in January.

Ugly vendetta

The government also claims to have freed Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, the former supreme court justice, his family and five other judges purged from the high court when Musharraf suspended the constitution.

But those judges have not been seen in public, and their supporters claim they remain under house arrest.

On Thursday, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) blasted the continued detentions and demanded the judges be released.

Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW, said: "Musharraf should end his ugly vendetta against the judges and free Chaudhry, his family and the other judges immediately."