Musharraf can’t contest election even if he comes back

ISLAMABAD: Former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf has been disqualified for life and is not eligible to contest election even if he comes to Pakistan.

Musharraf is the first Pakistani politician who has been banned for life for not being Sadiq and Ameen. The court had disqualified him for abusing his authority as the army chief, violating his oath of office as president and putting the judges under house arrest.

He had filed his nomination papers for four constituencies of the National Assembly – NA-250 (Karachi), NA-139 (Kasur), NA-48 (Islamabad), and NA-32 (Chitral) – when he returned to Pakistan in 2013 after ending his four-year self-exile.

His nomination papers for the four constituencies were rejected. The Election Tribunal in Rawalpindi comprising Justice Rauf Ahmad Sheikh and Justice Mamoon Rasheed had heard his appeal against rejection of the nomination papers.

A three-point charge sheet was brought up against him. This included abuse of powers as the army chief, violation of his oath as president and house arrest of judges. The Election Tribunal in its decision had also declared him as not being Sadiq and Ameen as he was not eligible under articles 62 and 63 of the constitution.