By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : Pakistan’s Supreme Court Monday rejected five out of six petitions filed against President General Pervez Musharraf seeking re-election even as former prime minister Benazir Bhutto softened her criticism against the military ruler.
“Five out of six petitions against the president have been rejected while the sixth will be heard on Thursday,” Attorney General Malik Abdul Qayyum told IANS.
He said that four petitions were rejected on technical grounds while the fifth was withdrawn by the petitioner.
He said that the court will give its decision after hearing the sixth petition.
Earlier, the full bench of the apex court had taken up these petitions and was about to give its ruling when Musharraf imposed emergency Nov 3, terminating the service of 14 out of 19 judges while five were asked to take a fresh oath under Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO).
The previous bench had allowed the presidential poll in October but asked the Election Commission to withhold the notification of results until the court took the final decision.
Musharraf won the Oct 6 poll with huge majority for another five-year term in the presidency.
He had announced he would doff his military uniform after winning the poll and before taking the oath for the second term. His previous term as president ended Nov 15 but he continues in the position under the PCO.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party chief Bhutto softened her stance towards Musharraf and said she was reviewing the situation after talks with visiting US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte over the weekend.
Bhutto had been holding power-sharing talks with Musharraf, but following the imposition of emergency she said she could not continue the dialogue with him.
Unconfirmed reports, denied by both the government and the PPP, said Musharraf again secretly met Bhutto in Karachi Sunday night.
Media reports say Musharraf will meet another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, during his visit to Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, lawyers and journalists continued their protests throughout the country.
Lawyers boycotted the courts while journalists protested against Musharraf ordering closure of television channels.
Journalists holding placards and shouting slogans against Musharraf marched on the road in front of the GEO TV offices in Islamabad.
Reports from Lahore, Karachi and other cities said mediapersons held protests against the president and demanded immediate lifting of restrictions on media.
Along with the imposition of emergency, the military ruler has imposed strict controls on the media and put all private news TV channels off air.
While two Pakistani and two international channels were allowed to telecast through cable operators, two major mainstream channels, GEO and ARY, were shut down last week.
Geo TV was uplinking its programmes from Dubai, but it was asked by the UAE authorities to close down its operations.
Most Pakistani channels operate from Dubai.
Pakistani people were shocked and surprised at the move from the otherwise media-friendly Dubai though the UAE authorities stated that the country’s neutral foreign policy and its positive and constructive role in international affairs led them to take the two Pakistani news channels off air.