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Musharraf poised to win simple majority

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was set for another term in Saturday’s presidential election but anti-government lawyers said the battle was not yet over, and saw hope in the Supreme Court’s ruling that he could not be notified a winner until it decided the petitions against his candidature.

“Our struggle is not over yet, we are not dead yet, we have come to the final court and it has not given its final decision yet,” said Tariq Mahmood, a lawyer for former Supreme Court judge Wajihuddin Ahmed, whose petition is one of three that the 10-judge bench of the top court is to start hearing on October 17.

“Tomorrow’s process is subject to the order of the court. Musharraf cannot be notified the winner, he cannot be sworn in as the President. If the legal community had not decided to contest his nomination, he would have distributed sweets by now,” Mr Mahmood said.

The continuing legal uncertainty aside, Gen. Musharraf is poised to win a simple majority in the electoral college that has a total of 702 votes.

The electoral college comprises the National Assembly, Senate, and the four Provincial Assemblies.

The Chief Election Commissioner will preside over a joint session of the National Assembly and Senate on Saturday morning, and senior judges will preside over sittings of the Provincial Assemblies for the voting.

Four other candidates are in the fray but their presence is not expected to make for a contest. Senate Chairman Mohammed Mian Soomro is a cover candidate for Gen. Musharraf; Pakistan People’s Party leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim and his cover Feryal Talpur were to take on Gen. Musharraf, but their presence in the contest holds little meaning after the Musharraf-Benazir agreement; Wajihuddin Ahmed declared right at the start that his nomination was aimed at challenging Gen. Musharraf’s nomination.

Gen. Musharraf’s steady march to another term in the Aiwan-e-Sadr on the back of favourable court rulings despite his other troubles has thrown the opposition into disarray.

His successful deal-making with the PPP more or less completed the demoralisation.

The National Reconciliation Ordinance formalising the deal with the PPP sets the stage for a power-sharing arrangement between him and Ms. Bhutto that is described as “a transition to a civilian democracy”, with Gen. Musharraf also expected to step down as army chief.

But he is unlikely to give up the uniform until the court case is decided.

A plan by the opposition All Parties Democracy Movement (APDM) to rob the election of its credibility failed to yield the necessary impact as the PPP, in anticipation of an agreement with the regime, did not join in.

More than 150 parliamentarians and Provincial Assembly legislators, mainly from the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, resigned but it has not had the desired impact, with the PPP staying away.

The APDM’s plan to raise a legal question over the election by rendering the electoral college incomplete by dissolving the MMA-majority North West Frontier Province Assembly also did not succeed.

Instead, the failure or inability of the Jamiat-e-ulema Islam, the MMA constituent predominant in the NWFP government, to dissolve the Assembly has led to a split in the right-wing religious coalition, with the Jamat-e-Islami accusing it of two-timing with Gen. Musharraf.

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