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| February 12, 2003 | Wednesday | Zul Hijjah 10, 1423 |
SC ruling draws mixed reaction: Permission to losers
ISLAMABAD, Feb 11: A decision by the Supreme Court to overrule a government ban on candidates defeated in parliamentary elections from running for the Senate received a mixed reaction on Tuesday.
The court ruled on Monday that a law disqualifying defeated candidates was discriminatory, and said losers in October’s parliamentary vote — the first since an October 1999 army coup — should be able to contest Senate polls on Feb 24 and 27.
Opposition parties welcomed the court’s rare defiance of the government but criticised it for not issuing any judgment on President Pervez Musharraf’s right to make laws.
A dozen politicians mounted a court challenge against the ban on the grounds that it was against “fundamental rights” guaranteed in the constitution. They also questioned Musharraf’s right to pass laws after the election of national and provincial parliaments and the revival of the constitution on the eve of parliamentary polls.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) hailed the decision as a rare show of defiance by the court since Musharraf launched his three-year military regime.
“This is perhaps the only example in which the top court had upheld the constitution in recent years,” PML-N spokesman Siddiqul Farooq told AFP.
“The Supreme Court should always uphold the constitution and should not have allowed a three-year rule to Musharraf, and it should not have given him power to amend the Constitution.”
Musharraf suspended the Constitution and sacked parliament after the coup. In early 2000 the court said Musharraf could alter the Constitution under certain conditions.
He used that ruling to justify rewriting the 1973 document, establishing a military-dominated National Security Council to oversee the government, and giving himself power to sack parliament.
Opposition activists have accused the Supreme Court of bowing to the military.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) welcomed Monday’s ruling, but assailed the court for not addressing the question of Musharraf’s right to make laws.
“They have not touched on one very important aspect and that is whether Musharraf had the power to legislate after assemblies were in place,” PPP Secretary-General and Senate candidate Raza Rabbani told AFP.
“They have failed to address whether he can amend or legislate the Constitution even after it was revived.”
Rabbani said Musharraf had issued around 50 laws since the Constitution was partly re-vived on the eve of the October polls.
The pro-Musharraf party Pakistan Muslim League-Q won most of seats in the polls and leads the federal government.
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