NEW YORK, Sept 17: Prominent lawyer and a leader of Pakistan People’s Party Aitzaz Ahsan has asserted in an interview that “the turmoil will start (in the country) the day General (Pervez) Musharraf files his nomination papers”.

Newsweek magazine quoted him as saying that a movement, like the one launched in support of the Supreme Court Chief Justice, would begin the day Gen Musharraf filed his nomination papers.

“That is a movement the West should have embraced. But it seemed to have been too enamoured with a tottering, slipping Pervez Musharraf,” he said when asked if he expected a popular reaction.

“I think Musharraf’s re-election by the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies is going to be a non-election, a virtual election in the modern sense of the term, an election that appears to be something that it is not. It’s not going to impart any legitimacy to him,” he observed.

“How can these assemblies give a mandate to a person for another five years when they only have a month left? Suppose Musharraf is re-elected and then his party is routed two or three months later in general elections? Where will his mandate stand then? This is foul. He is creating a fraud on the Constitution,” Mr Ahsan said.

Asked “are Pakistani politicians expecting too much of the Supreme Court?”, Mr Ahsan said: “Probably”, and added: “But I don’t think that what the Supreme Court is going to do is going to determine the future.

“The matter has now gone into the public domain. People will react. And what will the government do if Nawaz Sharif’s wife gets on a plane and heads for Pakistan? And if his son and daughter come the following week? Will the government keep doing the same thing?” he said.

Asked if former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s deportation affected the ongoing dialogue between PPP leader Benazir Bhutto and Gen. Musharraf, Mr Ahsan said: “The PPP dialogue with Musharraf has certain parameters, which Miss Bhutto has emphasised. One of her conditions has always been that there must be a free and fair election with the return of all the exiles, including Nawaz Sharif.”

“She has said that 100 times. Is Musharraf prepared to let Sharif come back? If not, then one of her major conditions is not being met. So what happens to the negotiations? Negotiating with Musharraf carries a very high cost, as he is the most unpopular, indeed hated, man in Pakistan.” he added.

About the deportation of Nawaz Sharif and its ramifications, Mr Ahsan said: “It shows that General Musharraf has run out of political options. He committed a crime under Pakistani law by abducting a man and moving him from point A to B against his will.”

On the question whether those serious criminal charges really be pressed against Musharraf, Mr Ahsan said: “Sharif’s party will prefer criminal charges against (Musharraf) at a local police station any day now.

“When the case against deportation comes to court, I’m sure (Musharraf) will be indicted. This (deportation) could not have been done without Musharraf’s complicity, just as the chief justice could not have been arrested (last March) without Musharraf having ordered it.

“This case will chase him even in his days of exile outside Pakistan, and the Americans better know it.”