Pakistan court postpones Sharif by-election

Pakistan's Supreme Court Wednesday ordered the postponement of a crucial by-election while it decides on a government appeal against the disqualification of former premier Nawaz Sharif. The government had challenged a decision by a lower court which barred Sharif, a leading member of the country's ruling coalition, from standing in Thursday's poll in the eastern city of Lahore.

The Supreme Court told Sharif to appear for the next hearing on June 30, but his lawyer said he would not come because he does not recognise judges appointed by President Pervez Musharraf under emergency rule last November.

Sharif was ousted by Musharraf in a military coup in October 1999 and his party, along with that of slain ex-PM Benazir Bhutto, defeated the president's allies in general elections in February.

"We are staying the election with immediate effect," said Musa Leghari, the head of the panel of three judges hearing the case.

"We could have granted relief but one of the main difficulties is the person who is contesting elections is not before us," Leghari said.

Lahore High Court ruled on Monday that Sharif, the head of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party (PML-N), was ineligible to stand because of previous criminal convictions relating to the events surrounding the coup.

The government filed an appeal earlier Wednesday, a day after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said it was trying to help Sharif because he was a leading part of the coalition.

Sharif's party itself has refused to challenge the appeal and his lawyer Akram Sheikh said there was no need for the two-time prime minister to come to the court next week.

"Nawaz Sharif will not appear before the Supreme Court. I have submitted this before that he has a principled position that he will not appear before these judges," lawyer Akram Sheikh told reporters.

"The courts are bound to give relief and dispense justice, no matter if someone is able to appear before it or not."

MPs from Sharif's party walked out of parliament on Tuesday in protest at Monday's court decision, while supporters burned an effigy of Musharraf in the central city of Multan.

The government's appeal was apparently aimed at consolidating the shaky coalition between the PML-N and Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Gilani is a member of the PPP.

The two parties are at odds over the possible impeachment of Musharraf and over the coalition's failure to honour its vow to restore judges sacked by the president during a state of emergency in November.

Sharif, who returned from exile in Saudi Arabia late last year, has called for the embattled Musharraf to be ousted from office and to be tried for treason.

Sharif and his younger brother Shahbaz, who is chief minister of Punjab province, were also not allowed to take part in the elections in February due to criminal convictions dating back to the 1999 coup.