Word: coup
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...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...
...This week Musharraf, who overthrew Sharif in a bloodless coup eight years ago, plans to file nomination papers for another bid for the presidency, a five-year term that would keep a man the U.S. calls its best ally in the war on terror in power, but that also risks further destabilizing a nuclear-armed nation that is teetering on the edge of a militant Islamic insurgency. Elections will be held October 6 and will be conducted by an electoral college made up of the national and provincial assemblies...
...Musharraf's efforts to engineer a similar legal coup for his second term started to unravel last March when he attempted, and failed, to dismiss the increasingly independent supreme court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. Since then his popularity, which was at record highs when he first took power from a Prime Minister widely seen as corrupt and out of touch, has plummeted to levels below that of Osama bin Laden (though still higher than U.S. President George W. Bush, according to a new poll). Last week, through his lawyer, Musharraf promised the Supreme Court that he would step down...
...Islamic Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is pressing ahead with one of the most sensitive issues in Turkish politics. Erdogan told reporters this week that he favors lifting the ban on the wearing of Islamic headscarves in universities. Under the existing constitution, enacted following a military coup in 1980, it is illegal to wear headscarves in state-funded institutions such as hospitals and universities. The rule was intended to prevent Islamist activists from taking root in the younger generation, but it has been widely criticized as excessive while also serving as a useful rallying cry for conservative Muslims...
...party won 47% of the popular vote, together with the appointment last month of President Abdullah Gul, a conservative Muslim, appear to have emboldened the religiously conservative party. One of its main tasks now is to revise a constitution that was introduced by a military government after a coup in 1980. The government has assigned a team of academics and lawmakers to come up with a new one. Wording of a first draft was recently leaked to the Turkish press, kicking off the debate. A full draft is expected next month...