ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: Leaders of major opposition parties described the Friday’s Supreme Court verdict in favour of President Pervez Musharraf as ‘disappointing’ but said the question of his eligibility to contest the October 6 presidential election was still open.

They said that petitions challenging Gen Musharraf’s right to contest the election had been rejected “on the question of maintainability and not on merit”.

In any case, they said, the verdict did not come as a ‘surprise’.

Talking to Dawn, Pakistan Muslim League (N) chairman Raja Zafarul Haq said the opposition was considering the option of filing a review petition before the full court of the apex court.

He said the question of Gen Musharraf’s eligibility to contest the election would be raised before the Election Commission and if he was allowed to contest the election, the issue would again come before the Supreme Court.

Raja Zafar said that because the judges had not gone into the merit of the petitions, all the questions were still open.

He said he believed that the courts were neither fully independent nor completely subservient.Leader of Opposition in the Senate Raza Rabbani said the verdict was ‘disappointing’ as the people of Pakistan had great expectations from the judiciary.

He said that if the matter was to be decided on the question of maintainability then this decision could have come much earlier.

“Nonetheless it is the Supreme Court decision and is respected, but a new legal challenge to the candidature of Gen Musharraf will open on Saturday after the scrutiny of nomination papers has been completed,” he said, adding: “Regardless of the decision, the people of Pakistan and the PPP will never accept a president in uniform.”

Liaquat Baloch of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal said they had been expecting such a decision from the time the Supreme Court had rejected their plea that their petitions be heard by a full bench.

He said the verdict would have a negative impact on national politics.

He said that they would once again bring the issue before the Supreme Court, if the ECP accepted Gen Musharraf’s nomination papers.

PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said if the CEC decided on Saturday the issue of eligibility in favour of Gen Musharraf, the PPP would file objections and challenge it through a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court.

“The PPP has already said that if Gen Musharraf was allowed to contest elections in uniform, the party would consider the option of resigning from the assemblies.

“If the CEC decided against the eligibility of Musharraf the PPP’s candidate Makhdoom Amin Fahim will remain in the field as a presidential candidate,” he said.