Musharraf wins court election fight

Pakistan’s Supreme Court today dismissed legal challenges to President Pervez Musharraf’s bid for a new five-year term.

The 6-3 decision in favour of the military leader allows him to contest the election on October 6 while remaining army chief and removes the main obstacle to his staying in office.

The government has insisted all along that President Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup, is a legal candidate. Critics claimed he cannot run because he has retained his position in charge of the army.

With his popularity and authority eroding, the general has said he would resign the military role if he wins a new presidential term.

He has faced growing political opposition since he failed attempt to oust Pakistan’s top judge in March and is struggling to contain growing Islamic militancy.

The ruling will bitterly disappoint activists from the opposition and the legal fraternity who saw it as a test of whether the military could be divorced from politics.

Farid Piracha, a lawmaker from Pakistan biggest religious party Jamaat-e-Islami, which had filed one of the several petitions challenging Musharraf’s eligibility to run, said he refused to accept the ruling.

“The judges have not fulfilled their constitutional obligation,” Piracha said. “Now our fight against dictatorship will be on the streets ... This decision does not reflect the sentiments of the people, and it will not be accepted.”