By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : The lawyers’ community in Pakistan has decided to field a former Supreme Court judge against General Pervez Musharraf as presidential candidate in the elections scheduled for Oct 6.
“We have chosen Justice (retired) Wajihuddin as candidate for the presidential elections,” Supreme Court Bar Association president Munir A. Malik told reporters.
He said more than 95 percent lawyers favoured Wajihuddin for the country’s top office.
Wajihuddin resigned from the Supreme Court in 1999 when Musharraf took over power and all superior court judges were asked to take fresh oath after the constitution was held in abeyance. He was amongst the six who declined to do so and opted to quit.
“If he had taken the oath under the military regime, he would have been the chief justice of the Supreme Court,” Malik told journalists.
He admitted that there wasn’t much hope of their candidate winning, but said this was “just a practical step based on morality… we just want to show the nation who is the better candidate”.
With election schedules being announced, a debate has started in Pakistan over whether an assembly with a five-year term can elect a same person for 10 years. This assembly elected Muharraf as president for five years in 2002 and his term ends on Nov 15.
Opposition parties under the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM), excluding Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, have already decided to resign from the National and provincial assemblies on Sep 29 when the Election Commission will accept nomination papers for the presidential candidates.
Lawyers have also urged the opposition parties to resign to protest Musharraf’s candidature.
The Supreme Court is hearing six identical petitions against Musharraf for keeping two offices – as president and army chief. A decision on the matter is expected by the end of the week.