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Pakistan to delay election winner

By SADAQAT JAN, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The Supreme Court threw Pakistan into political uncertainty Friday on the eve of presidential elections with the surprise ruling that the winner will not be declared for at least 11 days after the vote. The decision puts a question mark over U.S.-backed President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's relection bid.

The court said that Pakistan could hold the presidential election Saturday but may only declare the winner after the court reconvenes 11 days later to decide whether Musharraf, the expected victor, was eligible to run. The uncertainty that creates also clouds the prospect of Musharraf and former premier Benazir Bhutto forming a liberal, pro-American alliance.

Presiding Justice Javed Iqbal said that hearings on three petitions filed by Musharraf's opponents claiming the president is ineligible will resume on Oct. 17.

His current term expires Nov. 15.

The government quickly said it would respect the court ruling.

"We have always accepted and respected court rulings, and we also accept today's ruling," Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim told The Associated Press.

Asked about the prospect of political uncertainty after the vote by lawmakers, who pick the president, Azim said, "The Supreme Court must have thought about it, but one has to go by whatever the court rules."

Opponents have urged the court to postpone the election and consider their argument that Musharraf's retention of his powerful role as army chief makes him ineligible to run under the constitution.

Musharraf has promised to quit his army post and restore civilian rule by Nov. 15 if he wins re-election.

However, Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum said Friday on Geo television that Musharraf might continue as military chief if the court proceedings drag on.

A lawyer for Wajihuddin Ahmed, Musharraf's chief presidential rival and one of the petitioners, acknowledged that the triumph was partial.

"We have achieved 60 percent victory," Hamid Khan, a lawyer for Ahmed told The Associated Press outside the courtroom. "We are very hopeful that we will be successful in the Supreme Court."

Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, has seen his authority and popularity slide since he made a botched attempt to fire the Supreme Court's chief justice in March. Critics said he was trying to remove the chief justice because he feared the independent-minded jurist could rule against him on legal challenges to his candidacy. The judge was reinstated in July.

Musharraf is reaching out to Bhutto in order to broaden his support and underpin an effort to counter Islamic extremism and militancy spreading across Pakistan.

"This is the biggest challenge which we have to address, otherwise Pakistan will not be able to progress," Musharraf said on Dawn News television on Thursday.

Musharraf and Bhutto appeared Thursday to have agreed on the text of an ordinance granting amnesty to former officials, which would quash long-standing corruption cases against Bhutto and other politicians and smoothing the way for her planned return from exile on Oct. 18.

Bhutto said that she would judge the ordinance only once it was promulgated and published.

However, overnight talks produced a "major breakthrough" on the ordinance, a government official said Friday. He asked for anonymity because he is not an official spokesman.

An agreement between the two leaders would head off a threat by Bhutto to withdraw her Pakistan People's Party lawmakers from parliament to erode the legitimacy of the presidential election.

Other opposition parties have already quit.

Bhutto, who plans to return from exile on Oct. 18, also wants a constitutional amendment to let her seek a third term as prime minister and a reduction of the president's sweeping powers.

However, officials in her party said those issues would be resolved later, probably after parliamentary elections due by January.