Pakistan faces instability as Sharifs disqualified

By Kamran Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan plunged towards a debilitating power struggle on Wednesday as the Supreme Court brought down a provincial government controlled by President Asif Ali Zardari's main rival, former premier Nawaz Sharif.

The court's decision to nullify the election last year of Nawaz's younger brother Shahbaz Sharif as Punjab's chief minister raised fears of a return to the political turbulence of the 1990s, a decade that ended in a military takeover.

It wiped five percent off share values on the Karachi stock exchange.

The court also effectively maintained a bar on two-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif contesting polls.

Zardari has imposed governor's rule in Punjab for two months, according to Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for the president. With the imposition of governor's rule, the province is directly ruled by the central government through the president's appointee, the provincial governor.

Neither brother was in court, but Nawaz Sharif called for street agitation to protest a court decision he said was delivered on orders from Zardari.

"I want to tell the nation that it should stand up to this lawlessness, to this judgement, to this unconstitutional judgement, to this villainous act by the president of this country, Zardari," Sharif told a news conference in Lahore.

Pakistan can ill afford the political uncertainty.