Pakistan postpones by-election pending Sharif decision
Updated
Pakistan's Supreme Court has ordered the postponement of a by-election while it decides on a government appeal against the disqualification of former premier Nawaz Sharif.
The election for the parliamentary seat in the eastern city of Lahore will now be delayed until after the next court hearing scheduled for June 30.
On Monday, the Lahore High Court ruled that Mr Sharif, ousted by President Pervez Musharraf in a 1999 coup, was ineligible to stand because of previous criminal convictions, that Mr Sharif maintains were politically motivated.
But the government filed an appeal to help Mr Sharif, who was a key partner in the ruling coalition that beat President Musharraf's allies in elections in February.
The government's appeal is apparently aimed at consolidating the shaky coalition between Mr Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party (PML-N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of slain ex-PM Benazir Bhutto.
The two parties are at odds over the possible impeachment of President Musharraf and over the coalition's failure to honour its vow to restore judges sacked by the president during a state of emergency in November.
