President Pervez Musharraf has told to ruling party parliamentarians that he will not decide on when to hold general elections under dictation from the US.
Islamabad, Nov 8 : President Pervez Musharraf has told to ruling party parliamentarians that he will not decide on when to hold general elections "under dictation from the US".
"Musharraf said that he was under pressure from the West and the US to hold elections as per schedule, but he made it clear that the decision would be taken in the best interest of the country," sources quoted a minister, as saying.
Musharraf gave no specific timeframe for holding elections and removing his uniform, but only said that they would be held "as soon as possible", the minister said.
Sources privy to the special meeting of the ruling coalition called by Musharraf said that the president linked both issues - uniform and elections - with the finalisation of Supreme Court cases challenging his re-election.
"Lifting the state of emergency with out achieving the declared objectives would make the whole exercise futile," one parliamentarian quoted Musharraf, as saying.
Minister of State for Information Tariq Azeem said that once the Supreme Court gives its final verdict on the cases against Musharraf, the EC would officially notify him as the winner of the presidential election.
Musharraf would then take oath as President, before which he had pledged to take off his uniform, Azeem added.
However, Azeem said that Musharraf Musharraf has given no date for taking oath.
A majority of the parliamentarians were of the view that delaying elections would be "politically fatal", the Daily Times quoted sources, as saying.
One source said Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao and Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar opined that early elections could not be held because of security concerns in the NWFP.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and Textiles Minister Mushtaq Cheema were said to have advocated early elections, the source added.
ANI