Source: Los Angeles Times

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif plans to run in June for Pakistan’s parliament, an aide said today, a move that could increase the pressure on the country’s U.S.-backed president.

Sharif may be joined in the National Assembly by Asif Ali Zardari, the widower and political successor of Benazir Bhutto. A Zardari candidacy would re-ignite speculation that he wants to be prime minister.

Election officials barred Sharif from contesting parliamentary elections in February. The officials cited a court conviction against Sharif handed down after President Pervez Musharraf ousted his government in a 1999 military coup.

But Sharif’s party finished a strong second behind that of Bhutto and the two have formed a coalition government committed to cutting Musharraf’s powers and changing his U.S.-backed counterterrorism policies.

Sadiqul Farooq, a senior member of Sharif’s party, said that the ex-premier was wrongly disqualified and forecast that authorities would allow his candidacy this time.

Entering parliament would give Sharif a platform to step up his insistent calls for Musharraf to quit.

Sharif is also pressing hard for the reinstatement of senior judges purged when Musharraf imposed a burst of emergency rule last year to prevent them from voiding his disputed re-election as president.

The coalition has vowed to bring back the judges through a parliamentary resolution by next month, but has yet to explain how they will negotiate potential legal obstacles.

Election officials have postponed voting for eight parliamentary seats until June 18 because of problems including the deaths of candidates, including Bhutto, who was assassinated in December.

The deadline for nominations is May 6. Election officials will scrutinize candidates’ papers the next day.

Zardari became co-chairman of Bhutto’s party after the close of nominations for the February ballot, which cemented Pakistan’s return to democracy after years of military rule.

Only parliamentarians are eligible to become prime minister, and Zardari picked Yousaf Raza Gilani, a low-profile party loyalist, to head the coalition government.

But there has been persistent speculation in the Pakistani media that Zardari covets the premiership for himself.

Asked whether Zardari would run in a by-election, party spokesman Farhatullah Babar said today that his leader would decide in the next two or three days.

There are doubts about whether Zardari holds the bachelor’s degree required of all candidates.

However, the Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for Friday on a complaint that the condition should be abolished because it excludes the vast majority of the population from becoming lawmakers.

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Tags: Asif Ali Zardari, Musharraf, National Assembly, nawaz sharif, Parliament, PML-N