Musharraf foe barred from election

One of Pakistan’s most popular politicians was barred by a court Monday from running for a seat in parliament, a ruling likely to heighten tensions within the governing coalition and intensify debate over the status of the country’s judiciary.

The provincial high court in Lahore, in eastern Pakistan, declared Nawaz Sharif ineligible to run in a by-election scheduled for Thursday because of a disputed criminal conviction. Sharif is the head of the junior party in the ruling coalition, which soundly defeated the party of President Pervez Musharraf in February elections.

For the time being, the decision dashes whatever hopes Sharif, a former prime minister, might have harbored of regaining the post. The prime minister must be a member of parliament.

The issue of Sharif’s legal disqualification is a particularly weighty one, coming when the coalition is beset by internal struggles over whether to reinstate dozens of senior judges fired and replaced by Musharraf last year during emergency rule.

The two men have a bitter political history: Musharraf, then the army chief of staff, deposed Sharif in a 1999 coup and sent him into exile.

Sharif’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, denounced the decision Monday and questioned the court’s legitimacy.

“This is a mockery of democracy,” said Ahsan Iqbal, a senior member of Sharif’s party. “This will make Pakistan look like a banana republic.”

The Pakistan People’s Party, led by the late Benazir Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, was more circumspect in its response. Party spokesman Farhatullah Babar said he was “dismayed and disappointed” by the verdict, but said it was up to Sharif’s party as to how to respond.

An appeal is considered unlikely because the country’s Supreme Court is stacked with judges appointed by Musharraf late last year after he fired the popular chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry.

Sharif’s party has made the reinstatement of the previous judiciary its top priority; Zardari has said he supports such a move in principle but wants to go about it via a set of complicated amendments to the Pakistani Constitution.

Those amendments have yet to be taken up by lawmakers.

Monday’s court decision in effect overturned a ruling by the Election Commission, which said Sharif could run in the by-election even though he had been banned from the February elections. Winning a seat in parliament would have enhanced his stature and left open the prospect of an eventual move into the top political post.

Although his party came in second in February, Sharif’s popularity has been on the rise and many believe he has eclipsed Zardari.

Angry supporters protested in the steamy afternoon heat outside the court in Lahore after the decision was handed down. Many chanted slogans denouncing Musharraf.

Sharif has made repeated fiery calls for the president’s impeachment; at a rally this month, his speech brought chants from lawyers: “Hang, Musharraf, hang!”

Musharraf’s powers have been curtailed in the wake of the elections, and he faces more erosion of his authority if the constitutional changes are enacted. But he has thus far resisted calls to step down as president.

The case underscored growing fears about the stability of the ruling coalition, which has been in office only three months. Disputes over the judges’ restoration in effect have paralyzed the government. Sharif’s party last month gave up its Cabinet posts in protest of the lack of action on the issue.

Sharif was barred from taking part in the February vote because of a hijacking conviction in connection with Musharraf’s coup against him. As prime minister, Sharif tried to prevent the plane of his then-army chief of staff from landing.

Under an eventual plea bargain that he now says was agreed to under duress, Sharif went into exile after his conviction. He made a defiant return last fall to lead his party in February’s elections.

Bhutto was assassinated just six weeks before the polling, which was thought to have helped her party win a large sympathy vote.

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laura.king@latimes.com