Pakistan:President Pervez Musharraf will resign as Pakistan's army chief by mid-November to become the country's civilian leader, a senior aide said yesterday, writes Declan Walshin Islamabad.
Mushahid Hussain, secretary general of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Q) party predicted Gen Musharraf "would take his oath of office as a civilian president before November 15". Others were less categorical.
The deputy information minister, Tariq Azim, said "no official decision" had been taken. "It's only a possibility, I'd like to stress that point."
The conflicting statements were part of speculation about the military leader's next move in his effort to cling to power.
Under the constitution, he has until October 15th, one month before his term of office expires, to have himself re-elected for another five years by Pakistan's national and regional assemblies.
But although he has the necessary parliamentary support, he must also overcome political and legal obstacles. Relinquishing the title of general is a key demand of Benazir Bhutto, the self-exiled opposition leader with whom he has been in powersharing talks in Dubai.
But negotiations have stalled and Ms Bhutto has declared her intention of returning to Pakistan on October 18th, regardless of whether any deal has been struck.
A coalition of opposition parties has threatened to rob Gen Musharraf's re-election of legitimacy by resigning from parliament en masse.
But his most immediate threat comes from the courts. Yesterday the supreme court started hearing legal challenges to his re-election from six different opponents, including the Jamaat-e-Islami religious party, the former cricketer Imran Khan, and a lawyers' organisation.
The chief justice Muhammad Iftikhar Chaudhry, whom Gen Musharraf tried to fire last March, has withdrawn from the hearing, which is expected to last for the rest of the week.
A second court showdown is looming with Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister who was deported to Saudi Arabia hours after he landed in Islamabad last week.
Mr Sharif accuses the government of contempt of court by ignoring a recent supreme court ruling supporting his return home. Zafarullah Khan, a senior official with Mr Sharif's party, said their case had been delayed by the election hearings, but may be opened next week.
Gen Musharraf had some good news from the national election commission, which changed a rule that potentially barred him from standing for office. Citing a 2005 supreme court ruling, the commission said a constitutional clause requiring retired government officials, including army officers, to wait two years before running for office did not apply to presidential candidates.
Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's party rejected the amendments as "rigging" and said it "would not countenance the charade" of a new president being elected in uniform.