Pakistani court hears cases on Musharraf

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Pakistani opposition leaders from All Parties Democratic Movement Chaudary Nisar, left, and Mahmood Achakzai, centre, listen to Asfandyar Wali, right, during a meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan Sunday.

ISLAMABAD, Sept 17 (Agencies): Legal wrangling over President Gen. Pervez Musharraf 's re-election bid intensified Monday after exiled former leader Benazir Bhutto accused the general's allies of pushing Pakistan toward a dangerous crisis by refusing to restore democracy and share power.
The Supreme Court Monday heard a slew of petitions that seek to disqualify Musharraf as a presidential candidate. Meanwhile, Bhutto's party protested a reported change in election rules that could make it easier for the military leader to stand for a new five-year term.
Pakistan's political turmoil is deepening as Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup, maneuvers to extend his rule. He wants lawmakers to vote him back in by mid-October but faces legal obstacles because he still holds the office of army chief as well.
Musharraf's popularity has plummeted since he tried to remove the country's top judge in March, sparking a pro-democracy protest movement. The Supreme Court later reinstated the judge. Musharraf is also struggling to contain an upsurge in pro-Taliban militants near the Afghan border.
Last week, Musharraf sidelined his chief political rival, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, sending him back into exile. But in doing that, he set up another showdown with the Supreme Court that had earlier ruled that Sharif could return to Pakistan.
In an interview with The Associated Press Sunday, Bhutto said her party may join other opposition groups, including Sharif's, in resigning from Parliament and taking to the streets to try to force the U.S.-allied president from office.
Bhutto said that a group of Musharraf's allies was advising him to contest the presidential election without stepping down as army chief.
"We all know that any election in uniform would be illegal. But they prefer to play with the Constitution and create a crisis rather than have a smooth transition to democracy," Bhutto said. "Pakistan can ill afford confrontation and anarchy."
Bhutto has been in talks with Musharraf for months on a pact that would include constitutional amendments to defuse the legal challenges to his re-election bid and let her return to Pakistan and compete in parliamentary elections due by January.
But negotiations have snagged over the reluctance of Musharraf to give up his sweeping powers, and dismay among his die-hard supporters that they could by eclipsed by Bhutto.
Bhutto declined to forecast whether the talks could still succeed, but said her party was girding for a failure that could deepen the political confrontation. She plans to return from an eight-year exile on Oct. 18, regardless of the outcome of the talks.
On Monday, a nine-member panel of Supreme Court judges resumed hearing six petitions, including one by Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's largest Islamic group, on Musharraf's eligibility to stand again as president.
Attorney-general Malik Mohammed Qayyum said that, with the cases pending in court, the Election Commission was "reluctant" to announce the schedule for the presidential vote.
It was unclear when the court would reach a verdict. Ruling party lawmakers have said the vote will be held in early October.
The state Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reported Sunday that the Election Commission had announced that an article of the Constitution that could bar Musharraf from standing again as president - because he also holds the army chief's post - would not apply in the vote. Bhutto's party said that was illegal.
"As Gen. Musharraf is disqualified from contesting for President, he has prevailed upon the Election Commission to arbitrarily and illegally tamper with the Constitution of Pakistan," party spokesman Farhatullah Babar said. Election Commission officials were not immediately available for comment Monday