Word: sharif
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...Musharraf's political opponents, who include former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, say they will work to have the President impeached or even face treason charges. Bhutto said that the end of the emergency was an "important step forward" but that Pakistan was still a long way from true democracy. Officials in Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party warned that the upcoming elections are unlikely to be free and fair and said that government machinery is already "being exploited for foul play...
...political observers said that without unified support from the opposition, a boycott by Sharif's party would have been meaningless. On Sunday, Sharif acceded to that reality. He said that he has decided to fight the system from within: "We came to the realization that we must participate in the elections to block Mr. Musharraf's unconstitutional actions...
...claim that January's elections are legitimized by nearly full party participation (several smaller parties, including that of Imran Khan, another politician with premier ambitions, have not yet decided if they will contest). But now Musharraf's smaller party, which split off from the Muslim League when Musharraf overthrew Sharif in 1999's bloodless coup, faces serious competition from both the Bhutto's People's Party of Pakistan and Sharif's party, which have wide national support...
...party; otherwise he risks facing an opposition in parliament that could invalidate his extra-constitutional declaration of emergency rule. At the very least a two-thirds majority could unseat him. A two-thirds majority in parliament could also call for the reinstatement of the original Supreme Court, which Sharif says is his party's primary goal. That reconstituted high court could then rule that Musharraf contravened the constitution by dismissing the judges in the first place and declaring emergency. And, what is most worrisome for Musharraf, working outside the constitution in Pakistani law can be considered treason...
...little faith that the parties would be able to unite to oust Musharraf. "No one will have the majority to be able to do this," she says. "It calls for tremendous amounts of integrity and political will, which I see lacking in all political parties." But with Sharif now in it, the Pakistani political drama is making for a challenging game of chess for Musharraf...