Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf would continue to hold the country's top post even after the 2007 general elections, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said.
He would decide at a later date whether to get re-elected by the present National and Provincial Assemblies or by the new bodies to be formed after the polls, Rashid told reporters in Rawalpindi on Saturday.
He said Musharraf, who seized power after a military coup, was "constitutionally" elected as President after 2002 general elections by the National and four Provincial Assemblies.
Musharraf himself would decide whether to get re-elected by the present assemblies or by the new bodies to be formed after the polls, Rashid was quoted as saying by Pakistan's Online news agency.
Defending Musharraf holding the posts of President and Army Chief, Rashid said that a uniformed president was imperative for the country as enemies of the nation were engaged in nefarious designs.