Watch the latest news on the 2007 Pakistan Elections live on JumpTV!

Watch the latest news on the 2007 Pakistan Election live on JumpTV!

By SALMAN MASOOD 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 20 —The president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, will try to win another five-year term in an election on Oct. 6, the country’s election commission announced Thursday. 

The election schedule comes at a time of immense political and legal wrangling as General Musharraf, 64, faces several petitions in the Supreme Court. His opponents are challenging his eligibility to run and his dual role as civilian and military leader. 

A nine-member panel of judges started hearing the petitions on Monday, and a decision is expected next Wednesday, according to lawyers. 

General Musharraf, who took power in 1999, has told the Supreme Court that he will step down as the army chief if he is re-elected and will take the oath as a civilian president. 

However, his plan to campaign for office while wearing a military uniform has met with strong protests from opposition political parties, which are threatening to resign en masse from Parliament before the presidential vote, which in Pakistan is carried out by the national and provincial assemblies. 

“We have decided we will all resign from the national and provincial assemblies as soon as the nomination papers of General Musharraf will be accepted,” Imran Khan, an opposition politician, said, speaking for the All Parties Democratic Movement, an alliance of opposition parties that does not include the Pakistan Peoples’ Party of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. 

“No constitution in the world allows a general to contest elections,” Mr. Khan added. He claimed that the courts in Pakistan were still under government pressure and vowed to go back to the Supreme Court if the panel of judges turned down his petition. 

According to the election schedule announced Thursday, the election commission will receive nominations from presidential candidates on Sept. 27. A final list of the candidates will be published on Oct. 1, said Qazi Muhammad Farooq, the chief election commissioner. 

A joint session of the Senate and National Assembly will then be held in the Parliament House on Oct. 6 to elect the president. 

The fall election has become the focus of the deepest political crisis the general has faced, as two exiled prime ministers, Ms. Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, have mounted popular campaigns to return and restore civilian rule. 

Mr. Sharif returned briefly to Islamabad last week but was deported within hours to Saudi Arabia. Ms. Bhutto has announced that she will return on Oct. 18. 

On Thursday, opposition lawyers faced probing questions from the panel of nine judges hearing the petitions against General Musharraf. The panel observed that Parliament itself had accepted General Musharraf’s dual posts through constitutional amendments. 

One judge, Javed Iqbal, asked why the political parties had not earlier challenged the constitutional amendments, which were passed in December 2003. 

After the hearing, Shaukat A. Siddiqui, an opposition lawyer, said, “What I anticipate is that, after giving certain observations, they will not allow our petition.” 

(c) 2007 The New York Times Company 

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is premier TV channel geared towards providing quality entertainment TV programmes for the entire family. Hum TV offers everything from soap operas and game shows, to shows about modern women’s issues such as child care and careers. Hum TV stands out as the most viewed entertainment channel in Pakistan with a regular line up of blockbuster drama serials and soap operas.

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Geo TV is the most watched TV channel in Pakistan and is the only independent and liberal channel with the unique honor of consistently breaking news. Geo TV has been described as the CNN and BBC of Pakistan due to its enormous news network within Pakistan and all over the world. Geo TV is the voice of freedom from the Asian subcontinent, highlighting the issues of concern and the cultural richness of its people through information, discussion and entertainment. Geo TV will propagate transparency of responsibility that will ensure its position as the most credible and meaningful source of information, through quality programming based on issues. JumpTV now offers Geo News live online for the latest local and international news, current affairs and talk shows from Pakistan's number one television channel.

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