Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled today that exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif can return home after seven years in exile in a decision he hailed as a victory against dictatorship.
Sharif, a two-time prime minister overthrown by army chief General Pervez Musharraf in a 1999 coup, has vowed to oppose a bid by President Musharraf for another term in office.
Former prime minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif in London today. Image: Reuters.
"This is a victory for democratic struggle. Dictatorship has lost, democracy has won and the constitution of Pakistan has won," he told reporters in London.
"It is the beginning of the end of Musharraf."
The timing of a return by Sharif could hardly be more awkward for Musharraf, who is expected to seek re-election from the national and provincial assemblies between mid-September and mid-October and hold parliamentary elections within months.
After the 1999 coup, Musharraf co-opted the rump of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML) to form his own political base, and analysts say that could splinter if Sharif were to return.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry told the court in Islamabad Sharif and his brother, Shahbaz, who is also a politician and was exiled with his brother in 2000, had an "inalienable right" to come back and stay in Pakistan.
The government should not obstruct their return, he said. Both brothers are in London.