As Pakistan Supreme Court braced up to deliver a make-or-break verdict on the petitions against his dual post, General Pervez Musharraf on Thursday filed nomination for the October 6 Presidential poll amid strong protest by the opposition.

Islamabad was sealed off to thwart the planned protests by lawyers as Premier Shaukat Aziz leading a large group of Ministers and Chief Ministers of three of the four provinces filed nomination papers on behalf of Musharraf, 64, before Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Muhammad Farooq. “Today is a historic day for Pakistan,” Aziz told the state-run TV.

The ruling PML-Q Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayeed expressed confidence that Musharraf would be re-elected “without a hitch” and after that he would become “Mr Musharraf”, meaning he would quit the post of Army Chief and would be sworn in as a civilian President.

Minister of State for Information Tariq Azim said it indeed “augured well” for Pakistan to see a General in uniform going though the Constitutional process to get re-elected. Azim said the fact that he was opposed by two serious contenders —  Wajeehuddin Ahmed, a former Supreme Court judge, and Amin Fahim, a senior leader of ex-Premier Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — showed that the credible poll process was underway. Both Ahmed and Fahim also filed their nomination papers for the Presidential poll.

The Supreme Court is expected to deliver a judgement on Friday on a slew of petitions filed by opposition parties against Musharraf’s dual office and his re-election bid. The SC also ordered the immediate release of at least 100 opposition activists and leaders, including Javed Hashmi of Sharif’s PML-N.