Musharraf restricts former prime ministers from holding post ag

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf decreed Saturday that any former prime minister who held the post for two terms was ineligible to hold it again.

The move appears aimed at shutting out two former prime ministers -- Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif -- from October elections aimed at returning Pakistan to democracy. Musharraf seized power three years ago, toppling Sharif in a bloodless coup.

Under the order, the same term restriction will apply to the office of chief minister, or governor, in Pakistan's four provinces, and to anyone who has held a combination of both offices.

The ban applies whether the terms were completed or not.

Bhutto, who went in to exile about three years after she was dismissed during her second term in 1996 amid corruption allegations, has said she plans to return to Pakistan before the October elections. Followers of Sharif, who was convicted in 2000 of plotting to kill Musharraf and was exiled to Saudi Arabia, said he also plans to return to campaign.

Both could be arrested on arrival in Pakistan.

Musharraf has promised to hold legislative elections in October. He will remain president for a five-year term, having won a referendum in which voters agreed to have him remain in power after the legislative elections.

Last week, Musharraf unveiled proposed constitutional amendments that would also allow him to fire the entire Cabinet and dismiss Parliament. The amendments would allow him to name a successor to anyone he fires.

They would also shorten some elected terms, lower the voting age, require political candidates to hold a university degree and bar people convicted of crimes from holding office.

Musharraf said the changes are meant to "unify power" and ensure a stable democracy. The government has said the parliament elected in October will have the power to change the amended constitution.

Aitzaz Ahsan, a senior official of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, said Musharraf's order was made in bad faith and "intended to target Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif."

The order says the change was "imperative ... for the achievement of the objective of reconstruction of the institutions of state for establishing genuine and sustainable democracy."