Nawaz Disqualified From By-elections

The PML-N party said it will not appeal the ruling because it does not recognize the sitting judges.

"This is a politically-motivated judgment," Siddique-ul-Farooq, a spokesman of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) told IslamOnline.net.

"It has not been declared by the judges, but they simply acted as a mouthpiece. They have just read the judgment written by the President House."

Sharif was supposed to contest by-election on a National Assembly seat in his hometown Lahore.

But the court barred Sharif, one of the leaders of the ruling coalition, from contesting.

"Nawaz Sharif is not a qualified candidate to contest a by-election," read an order issued by the court.

The future of Sharif’s younger brother Shahbaz, recently been elected chief minister of Punjab, also hangs in balance after the court refused to set aside a petition filed against him by some candidates of pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (Q), and referred the case to the election commission.

The court allowed Shahbaz to continue to work as Chief Minister of Punjab pending a final decision.

The Sharif brothers were not allowed to take part in February's general elections due to criminal convictions dating back to a 1999 coup in which his elected government was ousted by then army chief Pervez Musharraf.

The PML-N came second in the elections and is the largest party in Punjab, the most populous and rich province of Pakistan, which is considered the powerbase of the country’s politics.

It joined a coalition government with the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto.

Sharif is campaigning for the instatement of supreme and high court judges sacked by Musharraf late last year for fear of outlawing his controversial reelection as president-in-uniform.

Targeted

The PML-N linked the negative ruling to its stance on the hotly-debated issue of the sacked judges.

"This judgment has proven the stand of PML-N on the current judiciary. We do not recognize them as judges. They are acting on the tips of Musharraf," said an angry Farooq.

"This is a conspiracy hatched by the remnants of the dictatorship in order to destabilize the democratic government."

The PML-N has been the most active party struggling for the reinstatement of the judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudry.

"We have been targeted for rising against dictatorship, and (Musharraf’s) hand-picked judiciary. The dictator is scared of Nawaz Sharif," said Farooq.

Scores of MPs came out of the provincial assembly in Lahore and staged a protest against the court ruling.

They chanted slogans against Musharraf and judges linked to him.

As soon as the news about Sharif’s disqualification was aired, hundreds of his supporters took to the streets chanting "Go Musharraf Go", and "Musharraf’s judges unacceptable".

A recent survey conducted by two US think tanks found that Sharif is the most popular leader in Pakistan, enjoying the support of 86 percent of the people because of his principal stance on reinstatement of judges.

Not Appealing  

"This judgment has made it, in my opinion, impossible for the PML-N to remain as an ally of the incumbent government," Javed believes.

According to the law, the PML-N has the right to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court within seven days.

The party has no plans to do that.

"We don’t recognize the sitting judges. They are not independent judges and therefore we will not challenge the judgment in the Supreme Court," said Khuwaja Saad Rafiq, a flamboyant parliamentarian and a PML-N leader.

"It doesn’t matter if Nawaz Sharif remains out of parliament, but these judges cannot move without covering their faces to avoid the people’s curse."

Lawmakers from the PPP joined the demonstration against the Lahore High Court’s ruling and criticized it.

"This is a deplorable judgment," said Raza Rabbani, the leader of the house in Senate.

"The PPP has reservations on this judgment. But we should not see this judgment in isolation. I see this judgment as a sequel of those efforts aimed at sabotaging the February 18 mandate," he added.

"In my opinion, the petition filed against Mr Sharif was even not maintainable but the judges not merely declared that maintainable but also announced such a surprising judgment," noted Rabbani.

"These are the decisive moments in the history of Pakistan. Now we have to be quick to take decisions vis-à-vis the reinstatement of judges and Pervez Musharraf."

Far-reaching

Political observers believe the ruling would further jeopardized the PPP-PML-N coalition.

"We should be prepared to hear the news about end of the coalition," Nusrat Javed, an Islamabad-based senior political analyst, told IOL.

"This judgment has made it, in my opinion, impossible for the PML-N to remain as an ally of the incumbent government," he believes.

"This judgment has totally changed the dynamics of our politics. Now, there is no way left for Mr Sharif to soften his stand about pro-Musharraf judges. Earlier, he was ready to accommodate them but after this judgment there is no such option."

Nusrat says he won’t be surprised if he sees PML-N workers and leaders on the streets.

"The establishment has given a clear message to Mr Sharif that he could be accepted to an extent only. He cannot be allowed to cross the limits."

The analysts insists that the ruling has once again highlighted the necessity of an independent judiciary in Pakistan.

"The general public will consider this as a politically-motivated judgment and will not accept that."

Ansar Abbasi, another Islamabad-based political analyst, argues that Musharraf should not be the only party to blame for the ruling.

"I cannot exonerate the PPP government. Everything is in the hands of Zardari now," he said, referring to the PPP leader Asif Zardari.

"His government is the continuation of the PML(Q)," charged the expert.

"If Zardari had agreed to reinstate the deposed judges, the nation would have avoided such a crisis.

"I am not optimistic because I can’t see the sincerity, which is required to tackle this crisis."

Abbasi is equally pessimistic about the future of the governing coalition.

"I am surprised that this coalition is still intact because there is no coordination between them," he said.

"Zardari has appointed a nominee of Musarraf as governor of Punjab to tackle the PML-N government. The Attorney Genera (Malik Qayyum), who guided Musharraf to depose the judges, is still in his seat. In these circumstances, how can you expect that the coalition will continue to work?"