Background
Leading up to the 2007 presidential elections, the Election Commissioner approved General Pervez Musharraf as a candidate for re-election. One of his opponents, retired Supreme Court justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, challenged the ruling in the Supreme Court. The dispute was primarily regarding whether a member of the military was constitutionally permitted to run for the office of the president, as Musharraf held both titles of President and Chief of Army Staff.
Responding to the challenge, on 28 September 2007, Pakistan's Supreme court cleared the way for President Pervez Musharraf to seek another five-year term when it threw out a major legal challenge to his re-election plans. But barred the Election Commission from officially declaring a winner until it made its final decision. On October 6, presidential elections were held with Musharraf winning 98% votes in the Senate, Parliament and the four provincial assemblies.
While the Supreme Court was hearing the case of Musharraf's eligibility as a candidate, it announced that it would likely need to delay the hearing until November 12 due to a personal engagement of one of the honorable members of the bench. On November 2, the court reversed its decision to break, stating that it would now reconvene the following Monday on November 5 to attempt to resolve the political situation quickly. This reversal was in part due to criticism that the court's continuing delay was adding to Pakistan's general instability. Convening on November 12 would have left a tight schedule of just three days before the end of Musharraf's previous presidential term on 15 November. Parliamentary elections were due to be held in February 2008, no later than a month after the original target date for elections.
Prior to the emergency declaration, Attorney General Malik Qayyum, representing Musharraf, had assured the court that there was no planned move by the government to impose martial law.
Read more about this topic: Pakistani State Of Emergency, 2007
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