PAKISTAN: Musharraf sweeps most votes in presidential election but now waits for Supreme Court to confirm the legality of his bid

Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf swept most votes in a presidential election on Saturday (October 6), but he has to wait for the Supreme Court to confirm the legality of his bid before being declared the winner. His landslide in an election largely boycotted by the opposition was widely expected. Members of the two-chamber parliament and four provincial assemblies voted for president. The ruling coalition's majority ensured that Musharraf beat two rival candidates. But his fate will not be known until Oct. 17 at the earliest when the Supreme Court is due to reconvene to consider whether he was eligible to run while still army chief. In the two houses of parliament, Musharraf won 252 of 257 votes cast. His closest rival, Wajihuddin Ahmed, won two votes, while three votes were rejected, Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Muhammad Farooq told the National Assembly. Musharraf had also won most votes cast in all four provincial assemblies, officials said, and ended up with a total of 384 electoral college votes out of 702, according to a Reuters tally. Doubts over whether the result will stand have fuelled uncertainty in the nuclear-armed Muslim country that is entering a transition period from military to civilian rule that will culminate in a national election due by mid-January. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters in parliament that the result shows the people want continuity of policy. However, senior Pakistani journalist Talaat Hussain said this was not the case. "Well clearly, President Musharraf has done the trick and he has been able to fool everybody, especially the opposition, and has been able to get his candidature approved. His only hurdle seems to be now that of the Supreme Court hearing that will start on the 17th. Other than that he's had a very smooth sailing, and all the opposition claims that they will be able to counter him have fallen on stony ground," said Talaat. If his re-election is confirmed, U.S. ally Musharraf has promised to quit the army and be sworn in as a civilian leader just over eight years after coming to power in a coup. Coinciding with the vote, lawyers behind a campaign against Musharraf led anti-government protests in the four provincial capitals -- Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta. Police fired tear gas to disperse lawyers pelting rocks at the North West Frontier Province assembly in Peshawar, where protesters also threw a burning effigy of the president on top of an armoured police vehicle. The Supreme Court decided on Friday the vote could go ahead but no winner could be declared until it had ruled on Musharraf's eligibility following a challenge by Ahmed, a retired judge who was nominated by anti-government lawyers. There is speculation about how Musharraf might react if the court thwarts his re-election. As long as he is army chief, he could declare emergency rule or martial law -- options Musharraf has said he would not take. The outcome is of vital interest to the West, which needs Pakistan's support for its efforts to stabilise Afghanistan and tackle the threat from al Qaeda.

ITN Source | October 6, 2007

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