Musharraf opponents submit resignations to parliament

Opposition legislators submitted their resignations today as part of their efforts to undercut President General Pervez Musharraf’s re-election bid, while two of his opponents filed fresh legal challenges to his candidacy.

The resignations are aimed at eroding the validity of the vote on Saturday by national and provincial lawmakers. Gen Musharraf’s allies insist they have enough votes to win him another five-year term.

Maulana Fazal-ur Rahman, leader of the opposition in Parliament, said Gen Musharraf might win the election, but he would have no legitimacy.

“After our resignation, Musharraf’s success would have no value,” Mr Rahman said.

Gen Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, has faced growing opposition since March when he made a botched attempt to oust the country’s chief justice.

Lawyers for retired judge Wajihuddin Ahmed and for Makhdoom Amin Fahim, vice chairman of the party of ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, filed two petitions with the Supreme Court this morning.

Both argue that Gen Musharraf is ineligible to run because he has retained his role as army chief and that the Election Commission was wrong to approve his nomination papers on Saturday.

The court dismissed several similar challenges last Friday, but lawyers expressed optimism that it would act after the commission changed an election rule in Gen Musharraf’s favour.

“We are hopeful for justice in this building,” lawyer Tariq Mahmood told reporters. “We have a strong case against Pervez Musharraf.”

Opposition leaders submitted the resignations of their own lawmakers. They hold about 80 seats in the 342-seat National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament.

“Our lawmakers are making this sacrifice in the larger interest of Pakistan. It is a decisive moment,” said Javed Hashmi, acting leader of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N party.

Under the Constitution, the president is elected by the National Assembly, the Senate and the four provincial legislatures.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party hopes that Ms Bhutto will not join the opposition boycott.

Prodded by the US, Gen Musharraf has held talks with Ms Bhutto which could lead to a power-sharing arrangement after parliamentary elections due by January.

Both Gen Musharraf, a close US ally, and Ms Bhutto have called for moderates to unite against extremism, and Ms Bhutto said in an interview broadcast yesterday that she would co-operate with the American military in targeting Osama bin Laden.

Ms Bhutto told BBC America that she would accept US assistance in the event that Washington discovered the whereabouts of the al Qaida leader, but that she would prefer to have the Pakistani military carry out the strike.

“If there is overwhelming evidence, I would hope that I would be able to take Osama bin Laden myself without depending on the Americans,” Ms Bhutto said. “But if I couldn’t do it, of course we are fighting this war together and would seek their co-operation in eliminating him.”

The opposition insists Gen Musharraf should not seek another re-election by the current assemblies and say new legislative elections should be held first. It has also urged him to step down as army chief.

The General has promised to give up his uniform if he wins the election and restore civilian rule in a country which has lurched between unstable elected governments and military regimes during its 60-year history.

Authorities have resorted to authoritarian methods to contain the opposition.

On Saturday, riot police fired tear gas and used batons on lawyers protesting against Gen Musharraf, then turned on journalists covering the demonstration.

Yesterday, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry ordered the Islamabad police chief and two other officials to be suspended over the crackdown, which injured dozens of reporters and attorneys.

US State Department spokesman Tom Casey yesterday told reporters that the US takes “seriously any attempts to close or otherwise hinder media from taking appropriate actions.”