Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s ruling party assured President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Saturday that he would be elected to a new five-year term in October before exiled opposition leader Benazir Bhutto returns to the country.
Bhutto, the former prime minister who plans to come home from eight years in exile Oct. 18, had urged the presidential vote be delayed until after parliamentary elections that must be held by mid-January. She said he should resign as army chief first.
The ruling party dismissed Bhutto’s suggestions.
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, because the next parliament may be less supportive.
“We have finalized our strategy to elect the president for another five- year term. … We have enough votes to easily elect President Musharraf for another term,” said Azeem Chaudhry, a senior official with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party.
The U.S.-allied Musharraf’s popularity has slipped in recent months after he tried to fire the country’s top judge and following a surge in attacks by Islamic militants, suggesting his policies against extremism have failed.
In an interview broadcast Saturday, Bhutto urged Musharraf to quit his army position before the election.
“It is our preference that whosoever wishes to contest for the presidency, whether Gen. Musharraf or somebody else, should do it from the next assembly, and it should be a civilian who contests the … presidential election from the next assembly,” she told Pakistan’s Dawn News TV channel.
