Pakistan's Supreme Court has postponed a by-election in the district
where former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had hoped to run for
parliament.
A court in Lahore this week banned Mr. Sharif from
standing in Thursday's by-election because of convictions related to
the 1999 military coup that removed him from office.
The
government filed an appeal of the Lahore court's decision Wednesday. If Mr. Sharif is not able to secure a seat in parliament
he will not be able to run for prime minister.
Mr. Sharif's
party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, has refused to challenge the the
court's ruling, saying it will not deal with judges it believes are
tied to Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf.
In
1999, Mr. Sharif allegedly ordered the hijacking of a commercial plane
carrying Mr. Musharraf, who was then the army chief. He has denied the
allegations.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
