Gen can’t seek polls in uniform: Pak judges

President Pervez Musharraf cannot get re-elected in uniform “constitutionally” as his authority to retain both offices does not apply to his next term as Pakistan’s President, former Supreme Court judges said.

President Pervez Musharraf cannot get re-elected in uniform “constitutionally” as his authority to retain both offices does not apply to his next term as Pakistan’s President, former Supreme Court judges said.

“Article 41(7) safeguards the President, but justification for holding two offices at the same time is only for his current tenure,” The News reported on Monday, quoting former Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed as saying.

Even if he quits as Army chief after completing his current tenure, he said that “Article 63 obstructs him as no government servant can be elected to the National Assembly or hold a public office until two years after retirement.” Ahmed also pointed out that the sitting assemblies that were elected for a five-year term could not re-elect Musharraf as President during their tenure. “Neither is it constitutionally possible no can there be any political or moral justification for it.”

Agreeing to Ahmed’s views, another retired Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid said the President “can neither be elected in uniform nor without it” and said that “even if emergency is imposed on the country” to extend the tenure of the assemblies by one year, constitutionally they would not be able to re-elect Musharraf for ten years.