Pervez Musharraf eligible to file nomination for upcoming general election in Pakistan
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Pervez Musharraf |
Former president of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf who has been
disqualified for life and is no longer the citizen of Pakistan can file his nomination papers to contest the country’s
upcoming general elections on 25 July.
The hearing and the subsequent ruling by a three-judge bench,
which was headed by the chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar also directed the
former military dictator to appear before the court on June 13.
As the deadline for filing nomination papers is fast approaching,
the court has assured the former president’s counsel that it will be directing
the returning officers to accept his papers. He also made it abundantly clear
that the acceptance of the papers filed by Musharraf for the 2018 general
elections will be conditional to the final verdict on his case.
General Musharraf,74, is currently based in Dubai after he had
left Pakistan on medical grounds and is considered a fugitive in the Benazir
Bhutto assassination case. Thereafter, Musharraf was disqualified for life and
held him ineligible to contest elections in April 2013. The Peshawar high court
had rejected his appeal against the disqualification.
His nomination papers from all the constituencies he had applied
were also rejected in the same month.
He was also indicted on treason charges for imposing emergency in
the country. If convicted, he can face the death penalty or life imprisonment.
The court has assured Musharraf who’s a former army chief and had
ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008 that he would not be arrested by the
authorities when he appears before the Lahore registry. He had sought adequate
security to appear before the court.
Muhammad Amjad, General secretary of All Pakistan Muslim League
(APML) of which Pervez Musharraf is the head, has informed that the former
president will be returning to the country after the Eid which is celebrated
after the end of holy month of Ramadan. Although some political experts have
their doubts on the former president’s return for the hearing.
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