The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Islamabad

Pakistan's most popular politician, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, suffered a major setback Monday when a court ruled him ineligible to run in upcoming parliamentary by-elections.

The decision was expected to deepen a rift between Sharif and his partner in the governing coalition over reinstating fired judges and could further destabilize the government in a nation seen as an important ally in the U.S.-led war on terror. "This ruling will undermine, in a major way, the effort for national reconciliation," said Nasim Zehra, an analyst and fellow at Harvard University's Asia Center. "It is not a politically sustainable judgment."

Sharif had been barred from running in February elections because of convictions related to his ouster in a 1999 coup, which was led by the current president, Pervez Musharraf. Earlier this month, the election commission effectively cleared him to run in Thursday's by-elections after a tribunal set up to decide the matter failed to reach consensus.