World | Pakistan
Demand to reinstate fired apex court judges
Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday dismissed Pervez Musharraf's presidency as illegitimate, saying the Supreme Court bench he purged to ensure a second term should be restored to rule on his election.
- Reuters
- Published: 01:03 November 30, 2007
- Image Credit: EPA
- A wounded lawyer joins others in a protest against swearing-in of Pervez Musharraf as the civilian president, in Lahore.
Lahore: Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday dismissed Pervez Musharraf's presidency as illegitimate, saying the Supreme Court bench he purged to ensure a second term should be restored to rule on his election.
Hours after Musharraf was again sworn in as president, this time as a civilian, Sharif demanded he end the emergency rule and release opponents jailed after the November 3 crackdown.
"Under the circumstances, we do not accept him as a legitimate president," said Sharif, who returned from exile in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, eight years after Musharraf, then army chief, ousted him in a bloodless coup.
Personal reasons
"The judiciary of November 2 must be restored," said Sharif, an industrialist-turned-politician speaking in the eastern city of Lahore, his power base.
"That judiciary was thrown out by Mr Musharraf just for personal reasons," he said. "Whatever decision that judiciary gives [on his re-election]... that would be a decision which would carry legitimacy and credibility."
Musharraf imposed emergency rule and suspended the constitution on November 3 to purge a Supreme Court he feared would rule against his October re-election by legislators because he was then still serving as army chief.
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