LAHORE, April 19: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has been moved to judge the constitutionality of the bar against a legislator to become the prime minister and the chief minister for the third time.

President Pervez Musharraf, through Executive Order 19 of 2002, had introduced the condition to the Constitution.

Petitioner-lawyer Tariq Aziz said the bar was illegal and introduced through an extra-constitutional measure because Gen Musharraf (retired) could not have amended the Constitution.

Referring to Syed Zafar Ali Shah case, the lawyer said the Supreme Court had stated that the chief executive could amend the Constitution only in the pursuit of his declared objectives. He added his seven objectives did not have any nexus with the bar he introduced to stop a legislator from becoming a prime minister and chief minister for the third term.

He said the condition was in conflict with Article 25 of the Constitution, which underlines the principle of equal opportunities for everyone. “The bar on becoming the premier cannot be sustained because such a condition does not exist for a person to become a member of the National Assembly,” the petitioner said.

He said the condition was also a violation of Articles 62 and 63 regarding qualification and disqualification of a parliamentarian. He said the bar was being kept in the Constitution to restrain PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif from becoming the prime minister. — Reporter