General Pervez Musharraf’s hopes to have himself re-elected as Pakistan’s president in uniform later this year have been plunged into doubt by the Supreme Court’s 10-3 decision to reinstate Pakistan’s most senior judge, Iftikhar Chaudhry.

“He can no longer be sure that the Supreme Court will be a doormat,” G.Parthasarathy, a former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan, says. “His plan to wear a uniform indefinitely is as good as over.”