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Political tension grips Pakistan

— PHOTO: AFP

Vice-Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Makhdoom Amin Fahim at a press conference in Islamabad in this September 14 file photo.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan was tense with anticipation a day before the Supreme Court verdict on President Pervez Musharraf’s candidature in the October 6 presidential election is likely to come to head to head with the filing of nominations by candidates in the election.

A security blanket has been thrown over Constitution Avenue where the Supreme Court and the Election Commission, the two buildings at the centre of political attention, are located.

Opposition activists have threatened to stage a sit-in before the Election Commission when Gen. Musharraf goes to file his nomination papers on Thursday, the only day for doing so.

The nominations must be filed by noon. Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed, candidate put by the legal community, arrived from Karachi to a rapturous welcome by lawyers led by the Supreme Court Bar Association at the Islamabad airport.

His candidature paves the way for objections to be raised against Gen. Musharraf’s candidature before the Election Commission.

Only a contestant can challenge another contestant’s nomination.

This may not be necessary if the nine-judge bench declares on Thursday that the Pakistan leader is ineligible to contest.

But legal and political circles are saying the observations of the court indicate that the bench wants to steer clear of a confrontation with Gen. Musharraf and the military.

In the event the court rules for Gen. Musharraf, Mr. Ahmed will challenge his nomination by invoking the rule against government employees running for election. As the EC has changed the rules to make this disqualification inapplicable, the matter may return to the Supreme Court.

The Pakistan People’s Party sprang a surprise by naming its own candidate for the election.

The party said its deputy leader, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, will withdraw if Gen. Musharraf is disqualified by the court, but will contest if he is not.

Party spokesman Farahtullah Babar said the idea was to challenge the President’s nomination, but also to stay in the field in case Gen. Musharraf’s candidature was rejected.

Justice Ahmed told private television stations that he would step aside if all Opposition parties accept Mr. Fahim as a consensus candidate.

In the Supreme Court, two “friends of the court” told the bench that the President should not contest the election in uniform.

The former Law Minister and ruling party Senator, S.M. Zafar said under the 2004 Act permitting Gen. Musharraf to hold two offices, he could contest the election in uniform but he must step down as army chief as soon as he is elected, and not wait until his oath-taking, as a president-elect is in fact the President and this Act provided only a one-time exemption.

But Mr. Zafar threw a quiet bombshell by telling the court that in order to “further” the democratic process and in the interests of free and fair elections, the court “can make an observation that it is appropriate for the President to give up his office of army chief before the date of election”.

While the court has been hearing from petitioners over the last seven days that the President cannot hold another office, Aitzaz Ahsan, the second amicus curiae, presented the argument that an army chief could not seek election to any office or dabble in politics in any way.

He said there was “a constitutional firewall” around the office of the army chief, and while the wall around the office of President had been lowered by the 17th amendment, no changes had been made to the provisions governing the office of the army chief.

Those who proposed and seconded the nomination of a person in this office were guilty of an offence that could be punished with 10 years imprisonment, he said.

Mr. Ahsan will continue his arguments on Thursday.

A third amicus, Hafeez Pirzada, who was Law Minister at the time when the 1973 Constitution was promulgated, will also speak, and the court may deliver a short order thereafter.

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