Pakistan court steps into Sharif’s dispute

The Pakistani Supreme Court on Wednesday postponed voting in a constituency where popular politician Nawaz Sharif wants to contest a seat in parliament, reviving his hopes of someday regaining the post of prime minister.

The ruling represented the latest twist in what has become a debilitating power struggle between the two main parties nominally allied in the country’s new government coalition.

Sharif, who leads the junior party in the coalition, had been disqualified Monday by a provincial court in the city of Lahore from running in a by-election scheduled to take place today. Holding a seat in parliament is a prerequisite for becoming prime minister.

He had refused to appeal that ruling to the high court, a body he considers illegitimate because President Pervez Musharraf last year replaced independent-minded justices with jurists loyal to him.

But the new government filed the appeal on Sharif’s behalf, in a move widely seen as meant to stave off a complete collapse of the governing partnership. A three-judge panel of the high court agreed to hear arguments next week.

No new date was set for the by-election in Sharif’s district. Voting will go ahead as scheduled in other constituencies.

Sharif said through his lawyer that he would not appear before the Supreme Court, whose chief justice was among the jurists fired by Musharraf. But the government’s lawyer said he did not expect the non-appearance to hurt the case.

If Sharif’s disqualification had stood, it probably would have deepened the rift within the coalition, perhaps shattering it altogether. Sharif is demanding the immediate reinstatement of dozens of senior judges fired by Musharraf during last year’s state of emergency, while the Pakistan People’s Party, the senior coalition partner, wants to move more cautiously.

Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari, who leads the PPP, also disagree on the fate of Musharraf. Sharif wants him impeached and tried; Zardari has indicated he hopes the former military leader can be persuaded to leave office of his own accord.

The disagreements between the two parties, which together trounced Musharraf’s party in February parliamentary elections, have brought most policymaking to a halt. Even work on urgent issues such as how to deal with Islamic militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas has not moved forward.

Sharif has an abiding grudge against Musharraf, who overthrew him in a coup in 1999. Those events are entwined with the current legal battle: Sharif was disqualified from running for parliament because of a disputed criminal conviction stemming from his efforts to prevent the coup.

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laura.king@latimes.com