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Musharraf assured of new term

Pakistan's ruling party on Saturday assured President Pervez Musharraf that he would be elected to a new five-year term in a vote likely to take place in the first week of next month, party officials said, while opponents met yesterday to draw up a strategy to topple Musharraf's "dictatorship."

On Saturday, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto urged Musharraf to wait to hold the election until after parliamentary elections that must be held by mid-January. She said he should resign as army chief first in respect of the Constitution.

The president is chosen by an electoral college of all national and provincial lawmakers. Musharraf, whose term expires Nov. 15, wants to seek re-election from the current assemblies where he enjoys a majority since the next parliament may be less supportive.

With an announcement of the date for the presidential election from the Election Commission imminent, top leaders from the ruling party met with Musharraf on Saturday to tell him they had enough votes to elect him, an official at the president's office said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Meanwhile, opponents of the president were to meet yesterday to chalk out their strategy to topple "dictatorship" and prevent the military ruler from extending his eight-year rule in alliance with Bhutto.

The opposition alliance meeting yesterday included the party of another exiled former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and a six-party coalition of Islamist groups among its 32 members.

"A determined strategy will be finalized to put Pakistan on the path to democracy and end dictatorship for good," said Mian Mohammed Aslam, a lawmaker for Jamaat-e-Islami, a religious party opposed to Pakistan's role in the US-led war on terror.

Some groups in the alliance have called for street protests against Musharraf and condemned the negotiations between Musharraf and Bhutto, which could lead to them sharing power after the elections.

They have also appealed to the Supreme Court against Sharif's deportation to Saudi Arabia last Monday, when he flew in to front the campaign against Musharraf.
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