Pak tribunal upholds rejection of Musharraf’s nomination

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Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s efforts to seek election to parliament suffered another setback today when a tribunal barred him from contesting the May 11 polls from a constituency in the Pakistani capital.

The tribunal comprising high court judges upheld a Returning Officer’s decision to reject Musharraf’s nomination papers for a National Assembly constituency in Islamabad.

Musharraf had filed an appeal in the tribunal against the Returning Officer’s decision but this was rejected by the judges. The Returning Officer had rejected Musharraf’s nomination papers after receiving objections to his candidature on the ground that he had violated the Constitution by imposing emergency rule in 2007.

The development came a day after another election tribunal dismissed Musharraf’s appeal against the rejection of his nomination papers for a parliamentary constituency in the southern port city of Karachi.

Musharraf had plans to contest polls in four parliamentary seats but his nomination papers were rejected by Returning Officers in Karachi, Kasur and Islamabad. Though his papers were accepted in Chitral, several lawyers have filed objections against his candidature.

The former dictator has been facing numerous political and legal challenges since he returned to Pakistan last month after nearly four years in self-exile. Pakistan will go to polls on May 11 to choose new national and provincial assemblies, marking the first democratic transition in the country’s 66-year history.