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Pak polls were not under amended constitution: SC

Disposing of an election petition, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Muhammad Farooq said on Monday that the elections were not held under the Legal Framework Order issued by General Musharraf.

The president's order incorporated the controversial constitutional amendments.

Justice Farooq pointed out that the conduct of elections had nothing to do with the LFO and the constitution as they are in abeyance with the country under military rule. "So the conditions laid down in the Conduct of Election Order 2002 have an over-riding effect," a local daily quoted him as saying.

Political parties felt that the court's interpretation, making a clear distinction between the LFO and the election order, strengthened the position of the anti-Musharraf brigade, which took a firm stand against his constitutional amendments. His amendments conferred more powers on the president and the army.

Officials in the Musharraf government, including Law Minister Khalid Ranjha, argued that the newly amended constitution had already been implemented and the political parties contested under new laws introduced by the president.

The new laws include enhanced membership of the National Assembly, reservation of 60 seats for women, and debarment of politicians convicted by court. It also disqualifies people without a degree from contesting the polls.

Reacting to the judgment, Faratullah Babar, spokesman for the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians, said the ruling makes it clear that the elected members do not owe anything to the LFO.

The judgment strengthens the stand of the political parties that oppose President Musharraf, as they are not bound by the LFO. The PPPP and a host of other parties have already made it clear that their elected members would take oath only under the 1973 constitution, Babar said.

The judgment followed stringent criticism by the country's lawyer community. The community felt that the judges of the apex court were not taking an independent stand on constitutional issues as they had taken the oath of office under the Provisional Constitutional Order promulgated by Musharraf after his 1999 coup.

Differences between the apex court and the Supreme Court Bar Association came to a head recently when the latter withdrew its petition questioning certain constitutional issues on the plea that there was no point in arguing before the court.

The court took exception to this action and threatened to proceed against Hamid Khan, the bar association president, for contempt.

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