Chief Justice Orders Musharraf to Release Opposition Activists

Pakistan's chief justice ordered the release of hundreds of opposition activists yesterday as President Pervez Musharraf pushed ahead with controversial plans for re-election in eight days' time. Muhammad Iftikhar Chaudhry ordered government officials to free the activists, mostly from Nawaz Sharif's PML-N party, whom the police had been rounding up since the weekend. The interior minister said 200 people were in custody; the opposition put the figure in the thousands.

The judge, who scored a historic court victory over General Musharraf in July, also demanded an explanation for a security crackdown across the capital, Islamabad. Hundreds of riot police flooded on to the streets at dawn and main roads were blocked to prevent expected protests.

The deputy information minister, Tariq Azim, said the government would comply with the judge's orders. But the crackdown had already served its purpose - hours earlier Musharraf supporters had lodged his nomination papers for re-election on October 6 at the national election commission.

The detentions had embarrassed the US, one of Gen Musharraf's key allies. In a statement on Monday, the American embassy termed the arrests "extremely disturbing and confusing" and called for the immediate release of the detainees.

But the president may have to cross his greatest hurdle today, when the supreme court is expected to rule on a major challenge by opposition parties, who claim that Gen Musharraf's re-election bid is illegal and unconstitutional.

Analysts say that if Gen Musharraf loses the court battle he may resort to emergency rule, or impose martial law. He has tried to assuage concerns by promising to resign from the army - but only if he is re-elected. "This is part of the transition towards democracy. Soon Gen Musharraf will become Mr Musharraf," said Mushahid Hussain, a key civilian aide of the president.

Critics say Gen Musharraf is using his military uniform to force his way back into power through a vote of dubious validity. Pakistan's presidents are chosen by an electoral college composed of the national and provincial assemblies. But the current parliament was elected in a rigged poll in 2002, and its term of office expires in six weeks' time.

"Why can he not simply contest the election on the basis of his popularity? Is it an admission that nobody would elect him unless he carries a gun in his hand?" a lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan, asked the supreme court.

Opposition efforts to scupper Gen Musharraf are split because the Pakistan People's party of Benazir Bhutto is negotiating a power-sharing deal. But the country's lawyers, who led anti-military protests earlier this year, say they are determined to stop the president.

Wajihuddin Ahmed, a retired supreme court judge who refused to swear allegiance to Gen Musharraf after his 1999 coup, was among a handful of protest candidates who put themselves forward for next week's vote. "He has been in power for the past eight years. The people of Pakistan are groaning," he said.

The stock exchange reacted positively to news of Gen Musharraf's nomination, ending 0.43% higher, reflecting his popularity with business people. But many poor Pakistanis are less enthusiastic, weary of soaring food prices and angry at his strategic alliance with Washington.

The legal drama places immense pressure on the nine supreme court judges. The chief justice, Mr Chaudhry, recused himself, citing a conflict of interest.

Yesterday there was much speculation that the court would come up with a compromise ruling - allowing Gen Musharraf to compete in the election, but only after giving up his army uniform. "Much depends on tomorrow's judgment," said an analyst, Hasan Askari Rizvi. "But even if Musharraf gets away with the election, the crisis will continue."