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The Election Commission rejected Sharif's appeal Monday, commission spokesman Kanwar Dilshad said. Dilshad declined to give details, confirming only a report in the Urdu-language Jang daily Tuesday that Sharif was out of the elections.
Sharif, who has been campaigning for his Pakistan Muslim League-N party, has been demanding that President Pervez Musharraf restore Supreme Court judges he sacked during a 42-day state of emergency that he lifted over the weekend.
Sharif's party initially called for a boycott of the vote but decided against it after failing to muster support from other opposition groups for a united action.
The party described the appeal's rejection as a politically motivated decision.
"This also shows that they are still afraid of his popularity and cannot face him," said party spokesman Ahsan Iqbal. "This is also shows that there is no level playing field in these elections."
Other candidates objected to Sharif's nomination, citing charges against him relating to the 1999 coup by Musharraf that ousted Sharif's government and his alleged involvement in a corruption case.
Since his ouster, Sharif has lived in exile in Saudi Arabia and Britain. Like Benazir Bhutto, another two-time former prime minister, he has returned home to be involved in the elections.
The chief election commissioner also rejected a separate appeal by Sharif's brother, Shahbaz Sharif, against rejection of his nomination for the Jan. 8 balloting.
[Associated
Press; By SADAQAT JAN]
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