ISLAMABAD, Sept 14 Former Attorney General Malik Mohammad Qayyum admitted on Monday that merit had been ignored in the appointment of some of the superior court judges by the government of former president Pervez Musharraf.

He claimed that as attorney general and president of the Supreme Court Bar Association he had objected to such appointments.

Talking to reporters after representing the Competition Commission of Pakistan in a monopoly case in the Supreme Court, Mr Qayyum said that people were suffering immensely because of delays in appointment of new high court judges.

In reply to a question about the process of judges' appointment, Mr Qayyum said it was a prerogative of the chief justice of the high court concerned and the executive had no role in it.

All such appointments, he added, were made on recommendations of chief justices of high courts who submitted the names to governors to be forwarded to the president. The chief ministers were never consulted for such appointment, he said.

He said that the political affiliation of a candidate was never considered a disqualification for his appointment as a judge, but according to a Supreme Court ruling he should be a practising lawyer.

Answering a question about Saudi Arabia's interference in internal affairs, Mr Qayyum said the kingdom had always played an important role in Pakistani politics.

The Saudi leadership, he added, had arranged a deal between former president Pervez Musharraf and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif allowing the latter to live in Saudi Arabia in exile.