International   

Former judge to run against Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s presidential election may turn out to be a real contest after the legal community announced on Monday that it was putting up a retired judge of the Supreme Court, much admired for his integrity, as a candidate in the October 6 presidential elections against General Pervez Musharraf.

Nominations have to be filed on Thursday.

Justice (Retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed was among six Supreme Court judges who retired in January 2000 rather than take oath under the Provisional Constitution Order promulgated by Gen. Musharraf after seizing power from the Nawaz Sharif government in October 1999.

“He was the youngest judge of the Supreme Court then and he could have stayed on and become the Chief Justice, but he took a principled stand and refused,” said Justice (Retd) Tariq Mahmood, a former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

Mr. Mahmood predicted that the lawyers’ candidate would be elected unopposed, as he was the only serious contender in the field. He said Gen. Musharraf’s candidature had to be turned down by the Chief Election Commissioner.

Although the legal community has vociferously opposed a presidential election from the outgoing Parliament, its main objective in fielding a candidate is to challenge the nomination of Gen. Musharraf on the ground that as Army Chief, he is a government employee.

“The Chief Election Commissioner has to scrutinise all the nomination papers according to Article 63(1), and if he fails to do that, we will come to the Supreme Court,” said Mr. Mahmood.

Lawyers have denounced the recent amendments to the rules of the presidential election by the Election Commission so that the disqualification clauses do not apply, as “illegal”. Mr. Mahmood said the changes amounted to allowing even an insane person or a non-citizen to stand for the election.

But according to observers, even if the lawyers are not successful in challenging Gen. Musharraf’s nomination, Justice Wajihuddin is so well-regarded that this could turn out be a real contest for the presidency.

The Supreme Court’s verdict in the constitutional petitions challenging Gen. Musharraf’s eligibility to contest the election is likely on Wednesday. The court heard arguments from the Attorney-General on Monday, and will meet again on Tuesday.

With the battle lines drawn, much bad blood is in evidence between the pro-government and anti-government lawyers. Before the day’s proceedings, a lawyer sprayed black paint on the face of Ahmed Raza Kasuri, counsel for the President, for “insulting” Supreme Court Bar Association president Munir Malik on a television show on Sunday.

In turn, Mr. Kasuri registered a police complaint naming Mr. Malik, as well as Aitzaz Ahsan, the lawyer who represented Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary in his legal battle against Gen. Musharraf, and Ali Ahmed Kurd, another prominent face in the recent lawyers’ agitation.

A planned opposition protest in front of the Supreme Court did not take place as police threw a wide cordon to prevent protesters from reaching, and arrested several important Opposition leaders in a weekend crackdown.

In a statement, the U.S. embassy expressed concern at the arrests and said the action was “disturbing and confusing for friends of Pakistan”.

It said it wanted democratic, moderate leaders in Pakistan but did not support any candidate or party. The embassy said it hoped to see an “inclusive democratic process” and free and fair elections.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Protest in Myanmar gathers strength
Brown keeps Opposition guessing about early polls
Space centre
Not heading for war with U.S.: Ahmadinejad
Minister warns monks
National duty: Wajihuddin
Former judge to run against Musharraf
Heavy fighting rages in Sri Lanka
Strategic plan for China’s energy development
Quick detection device developed
Mujib murder convicts allowed to appeal
Fresh crisis for U.K. farmers as new virus strikes
Hyphen-challenged times
India-specific safeguard mechanism unlikely

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu