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Pakistan gets ready for Poll

October 06, 2007
Clearing last-minute obstacles, the Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the presidential polls, in which General Pervez Musharraf is seeking re-election in uniform, can be held as scheduled on Saturday, but said the result should not be announced till it decides on petitions against his candidature.

In a unanimous decision, a 10-member bench headed by Justice Javed Iqbal rejected petitions seeking a stay on the election.

"The bench has unanimously resolved and directed that the election process should proceed as per the schedule announced by the chief election commissioner," Justice Iqbal said.

"But final notification of the returning candidate will not be issued until the decision (of the apex court on the petitions) for which the process is to begin from October 17," he said.

The apex court was hearing petitions filed by Musharraf's rival candidates in the Presidential ballot -- Pakistan People's Party's Makhdoom Amin Fahim and former Supreme Court judge Wajeehuddin Ahmed, who had quit his post in protest against the military coup staged by Musharraf in 1999.

Musharraf on Friday signed a "national reconciliation" ordinance, paving the way for a power-sharing deal with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf signed the ordinance giving amnesty to Bhutto and other political leaders -- except exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif -- in all court cases against them a day before he faces the crucial presidential poll.

Earlier in the day, a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz approved the draft national reconciliation deal with Bhutto, who lives in self-imposed exile in Dubai and London.

The Cabinet approval came after several amendments suggested by both the opposition Pakistan People's Party of Bhutto and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q were incorporated in the draft ordinance, described by the government as the "best" option in the current circumstances.

"The national reconciliation ordinance, which is meant to serve the interests of an individual, amounts to an insult to the whole nation," Sharif said.

"If national reconciliation is so vital then it should be based on some principles keeping in view national interests. It should not serve the purpose of electing a uniformed general as president," the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader observed in a statement issued by his party.

Image: Supporters of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf hold posters of the president outside of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League headquarters in Islamabad on Thursday.
Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

Also See:
Pakistan gets ready for polls
The man who challenged Musharraf
'Pak poll first free one since 1970'
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