Incumbent Pakistani President Musharraf will likely take oath as
president for another five-year term on Nov. 28, Attorney General
of Pakistan Malik Muhammad Qayyum said Friday.
Talking to the state-run PTV and the private Dawn News channel
separately, Qayyum said that Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar would
administer the oath and before that General Musharraf would
relinquish the post of army chief.
Qayyum also said that emergency was also likely to be lifted
before general elections scheduled for Jan. 8, but a decision in
this regard would be taken by the president himself.
He said that Musharraf had volunteered to doff his uniform as
there was no compulsion to do so, adding that deposed judges had
created confusion regarding the uniform.
According to the official APP news agency, the 10-member full
court of the Supreme Court validated the Oct. 6 election of
Musharraf by the national and the provincial assemblies.
"In our opinion, President General Pervez Musharraf...was
qualified for and did not suffer from any disqualification, under
the constitution or/and the law for presidential election 2007,"
the court said in its order.
"The chief election commissioner of Pakistan and the federal
government are directed to take all the necessary steps by Dec. 1,
2007, for final announcement of the result of the presidential
election and issuance of public notification in accordance with the
constitution and the law," it said.
As already undertaken in writing on Sept. 18 before the Supreme
Court by Musharraf's law advisor Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada and
Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum, Musharraf "shall relinquish
the office of the Chief of Army Staff before taking oath of office
of the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, for the
second term", the full court ruled.
Musharraf gained a vast majority in the presidential election on
Oct. 6. However, the Supreme Court on Oct. 5 barred the election
commission from issuing an official notification of the result
before a final verdict was given on petitions challenging
Musharraf's presidential candidacy.
(Xinhua News Agency November 24, 2007)
