By IANS,
Islamabad : The Supreme Court will hear May 11 a petition against its order barring former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother from contesting elections or holding public office.
The court had March 31 suspended its order of Feb 25 against Shahbaz Sharif, enabling him reclaim his job as the chief minister of Punjab province.
The Feb 25 order had forced Shahbaz Sharif to step down.
With the government at that time refusing to appeal the ban, Nawaz Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, had jumped onto the bandwagon of a lawyers’ protest to demand the reinstatement of the apex and high courts sacked after an emergency was declared two years ago and also turned it into a protest against his bar.
Nawaz Sharif then led a highly emotive “long march” to Islamabad last month with the government threatening to prevent the protesters from entering the federal capital.
President Asif Ali Zardari, who had been soft pedalling on the judges issue, gave in at the very last minute after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani virtually read him the riot act.
Zardari capitulated March 16, the “long march” was called off, and the judges were restored a week later. For good measure, the government also decided to appeal against the bar on the Sharif brothers.