ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the country’s former military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, should be allowed to file his nomination papers for the upcoming general election, pending a decision on his appeal against the decision to ban him from standing.
“I will ask returning officers to accept Musharraf’s nomination papers, but conditional to the final verdict on his appeal,” Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar told Musharraf’s defense counsel. The panel of three judges also assured the lawyer that the retired general would not be taken into custody.
“We will pass an order ensuring authorities do not arrest the former president before his appearance in court,” added Justice Nisar, but he said that Musharraf must appear in person at the apex court’s registry in Lahore on June 13 to file his papers with the Election Commission of Pakistan.
A court order imposed before the 2013 general election disqualified the former military ruler, who once wielded enormous power, from participating in politics for life. For several months, he remained under house arrest over a number of court cases stemming from his actions during his nine-year reign over Pakistan, including a charge of treason for imposing state of emergency in 2007 during his military rule. He was eventually granted bail and went into self-imposed exile in Dubai.
Musharraf was declared an absconder and in March a special court ordered the suspension of his passport and ID papers, the confiscation of all his assets, and told authorities to arrest him.
On Wednesday, Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party again trumpeted the expected return of its chairman.
“He will return after Eid, before the elections,” regardless of the court cases against him, said APML spokeswoman Mahreen Malik Adam. “We have to finalize these cases,” which cannot be dealt with while keeping a distance from the court proceedings, she added.
Musharraf has little option but to confront his legal troubles. The elections are a few weeks away and the party must prepare a campaign but has been lacking its leader, who feared he would be arrested upon return to Pakistan. Without him, APML’s chances seem slim, and candidates would face tough questions about his absence.
Adam is confident her party’s leader will return because, she says, the interim government will not apply political pressure, and because of changes in the judicial landscape which she believes will result in impartial investigations of politicians and military officers.
“We hope the judges will be lenient and serve justice”, said Adam. “It seemed like a one-way judiciary back then, which worked against Musharraf. The Nawaz Sharif administration was bent upon throwing him in prison. But now we are satisfied because everyone is being held accountable no matter how powerful.”
According to APML, Musharraf is likely to contest the 2018 general election from four constituencies, including Chitral, Jhang, Gawadar and Karachi.
