By Muhammad Najeeb
Islamabad, Sep 28 (IANS) Pakistan’s Supreme Court Friday allowed President Pervez Musharraf to contest presidential elections for the second term while also being the army chief, saying the reasons would be recorded later.
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PNL-Q) celebrated the decision while opposition parties and lawyers expressed their bitter disappointment. Hundreds of them blocked the Constitution Avenue after the court decision.
A nine-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Rana Bhagwandas, by a majority decision dismissed all petitions filed against Musharraf’s candidature for presidency and challenging his simultaneously holding two offices of the president and the army chief.
Six members of the bench gave a verdict in favour of dismissing the petitions while three judges – Justice Rana Bhagwandas, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan and Justice Shakirullah Jan – wrote a non-favouring note.
The decision came at 3.35 p.m., delayed by 80 minutes as it was scheduled to be announced at 2.15 p.m.
The court started hearing Sep 17 six petitions filed against Musharraf for holding the two offices of the president and the army chief and his candidature for the presidential polls.
“This is the most unfortunate decision,” said advocate Akram Sheikh, who pleaded the case against Musharraf’s candidature, soon after the Supreme Court decision.
The petitions were filed by Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Tehrik-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan, president of Pakistan Communist Party Jamil Malik and others.
Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that the lawyers and opposition should accept this decision. “If lawyers want to do politics, they should join some political parties and let the system work,” he told reporters.
“Once again, the law of necessity has been invoked and dictatorship has been protected,” Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party leader Ahsan Iqbal said to reporters.
Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi said the Supreme Court has given a great news to the nation. “Now we have the able leadership of Pervez Musharraf for another five years.”
The president’s attorney, Sharifuddin Pirzada during the hearing Sep 18 told the court that Musharraf after his re-election would doff his uniform.
Submitting a written statement in the court Sep 19, Pirzada said that if the president was re-elected, then he would give up the army post and doff the uniform prior to his swearing-in.
During then hearing, when the court asked what would happen if Musharraf lost the election, the attorney promptly said he would remain the army chief.
Imran Khan’s lawyer Hamid Khan on Sep 20 presented in the court the particulars relating to the Musharraf’s professional responsibilities.
Justice Javed Iqbal on Sep 20 in a passing remark said that the 17th Constitutional Amendment provided crutches to Musharraf, not by the Supreme Court.
On Thursday, Musharraf and 42 other candidates filed their nomination papers for the presidential polls due for Oct 6. The two other prominent candidates are Makhdoom Amin Fahim of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and former Supreme Court judge Wajihuddin Ahmed, who has support from the lawyers’ community and opposition parties.
The Election Commission (EC) is scheduled to scrutinise the nomination papers of the candidates Saturday. The PPP and lawyers have already filed objections to Musharraf’s candidacy. The PPP has asked the EC to seek Musharraf’s bachelor’s degree.
“I believe Musharraf is not a graduate,” PPP leader Babar Awan told reporters Friday outside the Supreme Court. In Pakistan, usually cadets join the army after grade 10 or 12 and are not graduates. However, in the mid 90s the Army Staff College and other military institutions were allowed to run graduation and master-level courses.
The PPP leader believes that Musharraf never attended any army educational institutional after 1994, when these institutions were allowed to run the graduate courses.
The lawyers’ community has announced that they would gather in large numbers outside the Election Commission’s head office in Islamabad Saturday when the nomination papers would be scrutinised.
The nine-member larger bench hearing the identical constitutional petitions comprised of Justice Rana Bhagwan Das, Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokar, Justice Falak Sher, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and Justice M. Javed Buttar.