| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Musharraf to contest 2007 poll: minister |
| 2005-05-18 |
| ISLAMABAD - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will stand for election after his current term expires in 2007, a government minister said on Tuesday. "There is no doubt that he will remain a candidate for the post of president after 2007 and inshallah (God willing), he will win," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Reuters. Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and adopted the title of chief executive, secured a five-year term as president through a controversial referendum in 2002. This was endorsed by a parliamentary vote of confidence in January 2004 after his government struck a deal with a hardline opposition alliance. Political rivals and other critics of Musharraf say the referendum in 2002 was massively rigged in his favour through widespread stuffing of ballot boxes. The pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League enjoys a majority in parliament and three of the four provincial legislatures, which will constitute the electoral college that will elect the president in 2007. A new parliament is due to be elected in a general election 2007. Under the electoral college system, the new president will be chosen by a majority vote of all members of the national and four provincial assemblies and the Senate, or upper house of parliament. In recent months, Musharraf has been trying to improve his relations with mainstream opposition parties to boost his position ahead of the presidential polls. The mainstream opposition, including former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party, have been angered by his curbs on democracy and his refusal to allow the return of their leaders from exile without the threat of arrest. |
| Posted by:Steve White |