Pakistan court bars Musharraf from elections

Ex-military ruler, who came back from four years of self-exile, cannot contest May 11 polls, his lawyer says.

Musharraf in Pakistan
Musharraf filed nomination papers for four National Assembly constituencies and was rejected by three [AFP]

Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s former military ruler, has been barred from running for parliament in the only seat he had been approved to contest, his lawyer has said.

Musharraf returned to Pakistan last month after more than four years of self-exile to take part in the May 11 general election, but the former army chief has been at the centre of numerous political and legal difficulties since his return.

“Yes, his paper has been rejected by the high court. We will file an appeal  in the Supreme Court,” Musharraf’s lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri said on Tuesday.

The 69-year-old, who faces Taliban death threats, applied to run for parliament in four seats (Chitral, Islamabad, Kasur and Karachi) but was rejected immediately from all but the northern district of Chitral.

Lawyers appealed against his approval in Chitral, part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and a court official in provincial capital Peshawar, said Musharraf’s nomination had been thrown out on the grounds that he violated the constitution by imposing emergency rule in 2007.

The election official had rejected his papers for Islamabad, Kasur and Karachi on the basis of articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution for imposing emergency in the country in 2007 and for keeping judges under unlawful detention.

The former president on Monday unveiled the manifesto of his All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party, promising to lead the crisis-ridden country towards prosperity, despite the “hurdles” in his way.

The Supreme Court is hearing a separate petition from lawyers demanding that Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan from 1999-2008, face trial for treason.

He also faces court proceedings over the killing of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007, a rebel from the region of Baluchistan in 2006, and for sacking judges when he imposed emergency rule.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani official said a bomb in the country’s southwest hit a convoy of vehicles carrying a candidate in the country’s upcoming parliamentary election, killing three people and wounding seven others.

Source: News Agencies