Pakistan:About 1,000 Pakistani opposition activists gathered outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad yesterday to denounce president Pervez Musharraf's bid to win another term in an October 6th election.
The activists from all main opposition parties chanted "Go Musharraf go" and carried a coffin symbolising what they hope will be the death of military rule.
Army chief and important US ally Gen Musharraf will seek re-election despite slumping popularity and legal challenges to his bid for power in the Supreme Court.
Opposition parties have long been demanding Gen Musharraf give up command of the army and run for office as a civilian, but some opponents want to see him blocked from power even if he gives up his military post.
"Musharraf, in uniform or out of uniform, is unacceptable - it's unconstitutional. We'll wreck his election," Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a leader of an alliance of Islamist parties, told the crowd.
Gen Musharraf will seek a new term through a vote by an electoral college of members of the two houses of parliament and four provincial assemblies. A general election is due by January 15th.
An alliance of opposition parties that does not include the biggest, the Pakistan People's Party of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, later said all its members would resign from the national and provincial assemblies on September 29th.
Ms Bhutto, who has been in powersharing talks with Gen Musharraf, has said her members might also give up their seats if Gen Musharraf did not take steps to restore democracy.
An opposition boycott would not derail the vote but would detract from its legitimacy. Gen Musharraf, whose main source of power is his military post, has said he will retire from the army, but after winning another term.
Yesterday he appointed a confidante to head the military's main intelligence agency in the first move of an expected reshuffle.
The Supreme Court is hearing petitions challenging Gen Musharraf's right to retain the posts of president and army chief.
- (Reuters)