Opposition party leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif’s nomination to January parliamentary elections was disqualified on
Monday by Pakistan
election officials.
According to a spokesman for Sharif's Pakistan Muslim
League, he was banned from entering the parliamentary election because of his
previous criminal convictions.
Last week Sharif filled the nomination papers, but he left
open the possibility that he could boycott the election. He wants to protest
against President Pervez Musharraf’s state of emergency, CNN reports.
On Monday Sharif will meet fellow opposition leader Benazir
Bhutto, also a former prime minister of Pakistan, to discuss about a joint
boycott.
Sharif was ousted by Musharraf from power in 1999 and
convicted of terrorism, tax evasion and hijacking. In 2000 he was released only
to be sent in exile in Saudi
Arabia for 10 years, where he returned from
last month.
He kept his citizenship, but wasn’t allowed to participate
in Pakistani politics or travel to the country.
Sharif’s lawyer, Imtiaz Kaifi, said that they were thinking
of appealing to a tribunal composed of senior judges.
He said: “This decision has been made under pressure. This
shows how free and fair the elections will be," ABC News quotes.
Candidates at the parliamentary election complained about
the fact that Sharif was ineligible as a candidate due to his previous charges.
Opposition wants to protest against the emergency rule and
asks for the judges that are kept in house arrest since the emergency rule was
imposed, to be freed.
Musharraf announced last week that the emergency rule will
be lifted by December 16.
In the meantime, Bhutto’s party shows signs of backing from
the boycott saying that it could legitimize Musharraf's emergency rule
decision.
She said: "The regime does not need to rig elections
that are boycotted.”
“But we still have the option later of protesting a rigged
election, so we would rather all the political parties take part,” she added
after the meeting she had with visiting Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Islamabad.
A boycott could mean a blow to the efforts of the U.S. to return
democracy in the country after the eight years of military rule.
