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Statute authorising Musharraf's rule
to go after October elections?

The order promulgated by Musharraf after he seized power in October 1999, would cease to exist after the polls and a host of ordinances brought in by the military regime under the PCO would have no binding on the new national assembly, Justice Munir told reporters on Monday after he was sworn in as the acting chief justice.

He said the laws enacted under the PCO by the military regime were not binding on the new national assembly and could be scrapped by it if it wanted do so.

Reacting to criticism that the country's judiciary was not free he said, "It is not true that the judiciary is not independent. We are independent but lawyers and other segments of society should bear in mind that we are working under the PCO."

He also referred to the special oath taken by judges of the higher courts under the PCO soon after the coup.

He was reacting to questions on the agitation called by the country's influential bar associations opposing the recent referendum held by Musharraf to get himself elected for five years as well as the controversial constitutional amendments, which conferred powers on the president to sack the prime minister.

Pakistan's supreme court upheld the validity of the referendum under norms of PCO and also recently endorsed the government's decision to bar non-graduates from contesting the polls.

More reports on Pakistan

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