ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s supreme court ruled yesterday that popular former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his politician brother can contest elections, removing a cause of political uncertainty in recent months.
Two-time prime minister Mr Sharif, who polls show is Pakistan’s most popular politician, was earlier barred from contesting polls because of an old conviction that he says was politically motivated.
Their lawyer, Ashtar Ausaf, told reporters outside the supreme court that earlier court rulings that in effect barred the brothers from elections had been set aside.
Mr Sharif said the ruling showed the country was heading in the right direction.
“This is a decision welcomed by the entire nation,” Mr Sharif told reporters in the eastern city of Lahore. “Today an independent judiciary is giving independent decisions.” The question of the Sharifs’ eligibility for elections has contributed to political uncertainty when the United States and other western allies want to see the government fully focused on the battle against militancy.
Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League is the main opposition party but he has been generally supportive of the government led by president Asif Ali Zardari’s party on main issues such as an offensive against militants in the Swat region.
The affirmation of Mr Sharif’s eligibility for election was not expected to intensify confrontation between the two main parties in the short-term though they are likely to compete fiercely in the run-up to the next general election, due by 2013.
Mr Zardari welcomed the court ruling, saying in a statement he hoped Mr Sharifs party would play “a greater role in strengthening democracy”.
Mr Sharif said his party, which came second in a February 2008 general election, would decide if and when he would contest a byelection.
Both brothers were unable to contest the 2008 election, although Shahbaz did later win a byelection for a provincial assembly seat in Punjab. He later became chief minister of the country’s most prosperous and politically important province.
But, in February, a court nullified Shahbaz Sharif’s byelection victory, because of old accusations of wrongdoing, and upheld the election bar on Nawaz Sharif, plunging the country into political crisis.
The crisis was defused in March when Mr Zardari gave in to an opposition demand, championed by the Sharifs, for the reinstatement of the country’s top judge, who had been dismissed by former president Pervez Musharraf in late 2007, and Shahbaz Sharif was restored as Punjab’s chief minister.
Despite that, the uncertainty over the Sharifs’ eligibility for elections has lingered.
Pakistani stocks ended flat as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the court decision, closing 0.05 per cent higher at 7,176.89.
The court decision came after the market had closed but dealers said investors were likely to react positively today.
Analysts say Nawaz Sharif has long had his eye on becoming prime minister again but, in order to do that, parliament will have to lift a ban on former prime ministers serving a third term. – (Reuters)