APML plans peaceful protest

KARACHI, April 17: The All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) will launch a protest across the country on Wednesday (today) against the disqualification of its leader Pervez Musharraf from the May 11 general election, said the deputy information secretary of the party. Mohammad Ali Khan Sherwani, APML candidate for a provincial assembly seat, said “a silent and peaceful protest” had already started in the interior of Sindh, and that the activists would stage sit-ins outside the press clubs and the election commission offices. Former military ruler Musharraf returned to the country from four years of self-imposed exile last month, pledging to run for parliament in the May 11 general election to “save the country”. His nomination papers have been rejected for all the four constituencies he planned to contest — NA-48 Islamabad, NA-139 Kasur II and NA 250 Karachi and NA-32 Chitral. The former president’s nomination for NA-32 Chitral was rejected on Tuesday, and his lawyer reportedly said he would file an appeal with the Supreme Court. Sherwani said Chitral’s returning officer had accepted Musharraf’s nomination papers, but later the Peshawar High Court rejected them due to different signatures. “We will give a message that a person loyal to the nation has been thrown out of the polls,” he said. However, another source said the final position would become clear after the April 18 hearing at the Supreme Court, and that the central core committee of the party would decide the future course of action. In case Musharraf’s appeal was rejected, the APML would boycott the general election, the source said.–The News  ]]>