Court Clears Musharraf For Re-Election
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan- A Supreme Court hand-picked by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf swiftly dismissed legal challenges to his continued rule on Monday, opening the way for him to serve another five-year term—this time solely as a civilian president.
The opposition has denounced the new court, saying any decisions by a tribunal stripped of independent voices had no credibility. Musharraf purged the court Nov. 3 when he declared emergency rule, days before the tribunal was expected to rule on his eligibility to serve as president.
The United States has put immense pressure on Musharraf to restore the constitution and free thousands of political opponents jailed under the emergency before Pakistan’s critical parliamentary election Jan. 8.
Monday’s court ruling could hasten Musharraf’s decision to give up his army post. The general has said he would quit as armed forces commander by the end of the month, assuming he was given the legal go- ahead by the court to remain as president.
Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar dismissed three opposition petitions challenging Musharraf’s victory in a disputed presidential election last month, saying two had been “withdrawn” because opposition lawyers were not present in court.
The third was withdrawn by a lawyer for the party of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who suggested the court was illegitimate.
“We asked for (the case) to be postponed because we said there is no constitution,” she told reporters in Karachi after a meeting with the U.S. ambassador. She said she had no plans to revive power-sharing negotiations with Musharraf, broken off after the general’s decision to declare emergency rule.
“We are not going back to the former track,” Bhutto said. “We are interested in a roadmap for democracy, but we do not have the confidence that Gen. Musharraf’s regime could give us that road map.”
One of Musharraf’s first acts after seizing extraordinary powers was to purge the Supreme Court of independent-minded judges. Opponents had argued that he ought to be disqualified under a constitutional ban on public servants running for elected office, which they said applied because Musharraf was still army chief.
(AP)
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These “independent-minded judges” were letting terrorist go free
November 19th, 2007 at 9:34 amOK, this still looks bad–he must have gotten world the old Supreme Court wasn’t going to rule in his favor, so he fired them and packed the court with his guys. On the other hand, how can an election have gone forward, then the lawyers say “he should be DQ’d because he holds military office” after he won the election? That isn’t fair either. What a mess.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:09 am