Pakistan to go to the polls
Updated on 05 November 2007
Pakistan will hold a general election by mid-January, and the national and provincial assemblies will be dissolved in 10 days time, according to Attorney-General Malik Abdul Qayyum.
"It has been decided there would be no delay in the election and by November 15, these assemblies will be dissolved and the election will be held within the next 60 days," Qayyum said.
Pakistan's Western allies have sought reassurances that polls would go ahead as expected in January after President Pervez Musharraf suspended the constitution and imposed emergency rule on Saturday.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told a news conference polls would take place, but didn't specify when.
"Our thinking about the election is that it will be held according to schedule," he said.
'It has been decided there would be no delay in the election.'Attorney-General Malik Abdul Qayyum
Meanwhile, a leading Pakistani politician voiced disappointment at Western governments' response to President Pervez Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule and said only a democracy could fight extremism.
"We are disappointed by Western governments in terms of how they've condemned Musharraf's latest draconian law," Shehbaz Sharif, head of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (PML) told a news conference in London.
"What we expect from them (Western governments) is to ensure that if this law is not rolled back, and Musharraf does not step back ... then they must cease to support him," Sharif said.
In Karachi, Pakistan's economic capital, police baton-charged dozens of lawyers protesting emergency rule outside the High Court, arresting dozens.
In the eastern city of Lahore, teargas was used against lawyers after they ransacked the office of the chief justice of Punjab who had sided with the government. Around 200 were arrested.
Karachi lawyer Abdul Hafeez said he was prepared to fight, "We are not scared of these arrests. We will continue our fight, come what may."
Police also held several judges at their homes after they refused to swear allegiance following Musharraf's introduction of emergency rule. They included Chief Justice Ifitakhar Chaudhry, who became a symbol of resistance to Musharraf's rule when he resisted pressure to quit in March.
The main opposition party in Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami said the authorities had detained around 600-700 of its supporters in southern and central provinces overnight.
Restrictions have been imposed on the media to avoid outrage spilling onto the streets. Musharraf had to quell rumours that he was under house arrest amid the sense of uncertainty surrounding Saturday's action.
"Many people in Pakistan believe that it has nothing to do with stopping terrorism, and it has everything to do with stopping a court verdict that was coming against him," the former prime minister said. Bhutto heads Pakistan's largest opposition party and her next move is being eagerly awaited.
