Friendly Court Clears Way for Musharraf’s 2nd Term

By JANE PERLEZ

By Jane Perlez

The New York Times

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

Pakistan’s Supreme Court, stacked with appointees loyal to Gen. Pervez Musharraf, dismissed the last legal challenge to his re- election as president on Thursday, paving the way for his swearing- in to a second five-year term.

Presidential aides said Musharraf would now abide by his pledge to step down as head of the army and become a civilian president when he takes the oath of office, which is expected in coming days.

The court decision was the final step in a series of maneuvers devised by Musharraf, including the imposition of emergency rule nearly three weeks ago, to ensure his continuation in power.

It underscored the quandary for those in the opposition, which must decide whether to take part in parliamentary elections Musharraf has announced for Jan. 8, even though they consider his re- election illegitimate. The general scrapped the constitution on Nov. 3 and dismissed a Supreme Court that seemed poised to judge a new term for him illegal.

As the new court gave the general the ruling he wanted, aides to one of the country’s leading opposition figures, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said he appeared ready to leave his exile in Saudi Arabia and return home to take part in the parliamentary elections. Sharif, potentially Musharraf’s most potent opponent, flew from Jiddah to Riyadh on Thursday to see the Saudi royal family in what appeared to be the final preparations for his homecoming.

Just two days ago, Musharraf flew to Saudi Arabia for a short trip that diplomats described as an effort to persuade the Saudi authorities to keep Sharif from leaving the country.

The two men are bitter enemies. Musharraf deposed Sharif in a bloodless coup in October 1999. Sharif left Pakistan in 2000 under an agreement in which a prison sentence for corruption and hijacking was dropped in exchange for 10 years in exile.

A s political events have unfolded in Pakistan, including the return of another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, Sharif has been pushing for the right to make a political comeback. Sharif, who like Bhutto served as prime minister twice and like Bhutto was dismissed twice, returned to Pakistan in September. After four hours on the ground, he was threatened with jail and deported.

Saudi Arabia, a staunch ally of Pakistan, has been embarrassed by demonstrations by Sharif’s supporters protesting that he was being unfairly barred from Pakistani politics, diplomats said. Moreover, they said, the Saudis believe that Sharif, a more conservative and religious politician than Bhutto, should be allowed to return as a counterweight to Bhutto.

One of Sharif’s main political operatives in Pakistan, Raja Ashfaq, the secretary-general of the Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz, in Punjab Province, said he believed that Sharif’s return had been agreed to in principle by the Saudi authorities.

The haggling over Sharif further complicated the choice opposition parties face. The basic question before them is whether to boycott or take part in the elections while Pakistan remains under emergency rule and under a truncated schedule devised to strongly favor Musharraf’s faction of the Pakistan Muslim League.

The American ambassador, Anne Patterson, has met with various opposition party leaders in the last several days, including Bhutto, and urged them to take part in the elections. Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan last month with the backing of the United States, and on the understanding she would form a partnership with Musharraf, has signaled she is likely to take part in the elections.

Musharraf has insisted that emergency rule would be kept in place for the elections. But Western diplomats said they were hoping for some softening in that position and were urging opposition parties to take part in the elections on the understanding that emergency rule would be lifted beforehand.

A recently formed All Parties Democratic Movement of opposition parties, led by Sharif, is expected to meet Friday in Islamabad to discuss whether to go ahead with a political campaign under the restrictive election procedures, Ashfaq said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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