President’s Re-Election “Unconstitutional” – Pakistan Senate Opposition

Text of report by Naveed Siddiqui and Azaz Syed headlined “Senate opposition terms Musharraf’s re-election unlawful, immoral; Rabbani says PPP opposed to Musharraf’s re-election by current assemblies” published by Pakistani newspaper Daily Times website on 7 October

Islamabad: The opposition in the Senate [upper house of parliament] on Saturday [6 October] rejected President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s re-election by the current assemblies, calling it an “unconstitutional, illogical and immoral act”, but was divided over the promulgation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

The NRO allows the withdrawal of cases against holders of public offices for alleged corruption from 1 January 1986 to 12 October 1999.

Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal [MMA, Islamist coalition] and PML-N [Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz faction] senators rejected the NRO, saying that the presidential order has been issued to benefit PPP [Pakistan People's Party] Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto [former prime minister].

Pakistan People’s Party senators, however, denied the assertion. They said the NRO was not Bhutto-specific and would benefit politicians across the board. They said their party had cut no deal with the Musharraf-led government for the promulgation of the NRO. The session was later adjourned amid “Go Musharraf go” slogans by opposition members.

PPP not opposed to Musharraf’s re-election: Leader of the Opposition Mian Raza Rabbani, on a point of order, said his party was opposed to the current assemblies re-electing a president in uniform. The PPP had decided not to vote for President Gen Pervez Musharraf, he added. He said Musharraf’s re-election was “unconstitutional, illegal and immoral” because the assemblies had almost completed their constitutional term of five years. He said the PPP fielded Amin Fahim as a presidential candidate due to certain legal reasons.

MMA parliamentary leader Prof Khursheed Ahmad called Musharraf’s re-election in uniform a “shameful act”.

“It is unfortunate and shameful for all that ballot papers for the presidential poll had Musharraf’s name with his military rank (general),” he said. He said he did not think that Musharraf would shed his uniform after his re-election “as he has failed to keep his word in the past”.

Sardar Mehtab Khan of the PML-N called the presidential election “a joke”. He said the nation would not allow Musharraf to continue his “illegal rule” for five more years. People will throw him (Musharraf) out of power within the next three months, Khan said.

Local Government Minister Abdul Razzaq Thaheem said the MMA had helped Musharraf continue as a president in uniform by backing the 17th amendment’s approval by the parliament.

Ports and Shipping Minister Babar Khan Ghouri accused the PPP and MMA of double standards on the issue of the presidential election. “On one hand, the PPP and the MMA are opposed to Musharraf’s re- election in uniform, and on the other, their MPs have proposed and seconded presidential candidates,” he said.

Originally published by Daily Times website, Lahore, in English 07 Oct 07.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring South Asia. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.