Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister of Pakistani, was barred today from contesting general elections on January 8 because of past criminal convictions.

The decision was made by the country's Election Commission after a complaint by a rival candidate standing against Mr Sharif in his home city of Lahore. Mr Sharif, who returned home last month after an eight-year exile in Saudi Arabia, says the convictions were politically motivated.

“His nomination papers are rejected because of his convictions,” Raja Qamaruzaman, the presiding election official, told the Reuters news agency after a three-hour hearing.

The rival candidate, Khawaja Tahir Zia, asked the Election Commission to disqualify Mr Sharif from contesting the election because he had been convicted of hijacking in 2000.

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The case involved Mr Sharif’s alleged attempt to stop a plane carrying his then army chief, General Pervez Musharraf, from landing in Pakistan in October 1999. As a result of that incident, Mr Sharif was ousted in a military coup and Mr Musharraf went on to become president.

“Mr Nawaz Sharif cannot contest the election because he was sentenced, convicted and declared a terrorist in the hijacking case,” Mr Zia’s lawyer, A.Z. Shami, argued in the court.

Mr Sharif’s lawyer, Khawaja Haris Ahmad, said that his client could not be ruled out of the election because a five-year time limit for the disqualification of convicted criminals had expired.

Mr Sharif also faces another challenge filed by a private citizen. The hearing comes two days after Mr Sharif’s brother Shahbaz, a former provincial chief minister, was also disqualified because of pending criminal charges against him.

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