Musharraf will go ahead with re-elections
President Pervez Musharraf has reportedly made it clear to the ruling coalition that he will go ahead with his re-election by the existing assemblies later this year followed by the general elections.
Notwithstanding the criticism over the spiralling judicial crisis, President Pervez Musharraf has reportedly made it clear to the ruling coalition that he will go ahead with his re-election by the existing assemblies later this year followed by the general elections.
"My re-election will be held from Sept 15 to October 15 by the sitting assemblies and there should be no two opinions," he was quoted as saying at the meeting of the leaders and parliamentarians of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q, (PML-Q) and allies in Islamabad on Tuesday.
About 150 lawmakers of PML-Q, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, (MQM), Pakistan People's Party (Sherpao) and the PML-F besides Prime Minister Shauakat Aziz attended the meeting convened by Musharraf to evolve a strategy to stem the crisis sparked off by Chief Justice Iftikar M Chaudhry's suspension.
He also asked coalition members in unequivocal terms to prepare for the next general election without bothering about the current situation.
During the meeting, Musharraf brushed aside a query by PML-Q lawmaker M P Bhandara on whether the uniform issue could be hurdle in the Presidential polls as former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has made it clear that she would not support Musharraf's re-election if he continued as Army Chief.
He ruled out the possibility of a deal with the exiled leadership, saying "we have contacts with all political forces but he will not ditch the PML by striking a deal with any party", according to media reports in Islamabad.