Word: musharraf
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Text messages started to fly around Pakistan a little after midnight on Sept. 22 as the government began detaining or arresting what would become nearly 100 opposition activists. "Has Mush gone mad?" asked a critic of President Pervez Musharraf. "Let them do their worst," another texted. "We will carry on." The arrests come as Pakistan's embattled leader is expected to meet a Sept. 27 deadline for filing paperwork required to compete in the Oct. 6 election. Critics say his candidacy violates a constitutional provision that until recently barred military members from running for office...
...Pakistan's Supreme Court considers the latest petitions contesting his re-election bid--it already dismissed three such cases in September--Musharraf promised the court he would step down as army chief if re-elected President. The general, who became head of state in a bloodless coup in 1999, was given a one-time exemption to the constitutional law, allowing him to retain both positions until the end of his current term...
...opposition leaders took no comfort in Musharraf's conditional agreement to loosen his grip on the military. If the man who tried--and failed--last spring to dismiss an increasingly independent Chief Justice of the Supreme Court loses at the polls next month, critics fear a declaration of martial law could soon follow...
...several Supreme Court cases concerning Musharraf's eligibility for another term continue into the second week of debate, analysts see this weekend's rash of arrests as signs of a government losing its grip. The Supreme Court could be turning against him, say some, or he no longer has the majority he needs to be reelected. "I think this is a sign of desperation" says Ayesha Tammy Haq, a prominent political talk show host. "Why else would you go and arrest a group of declawed politicians?" Or, she pauses, "it could also mean abject stupidity." Like Musharraf's attempts...
...observers started to worry as the SMS messages continued to arrive into the early hours of the morning. No rallies had been programmed for the coming days, but lawyers, who had been instrumental in restoring Chaudhry to power, had announced a backup plan were the Supreme Court to declare Musharraf's candidacy legal. Nomination papers must be filed in person at the Electoral Commission by the 27th of September, and lawyer's groups had called for mass protests to block Musharraf's papers from being filed . "Musharraf's opponents made an announcement that they would put the Election Commission offices...