By DPA
Islamabad : General elections in Pakistan is expected to be held as scheduled next January, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Monday, two days after emergency rule was imposed in the country.
“So far there is no change in the schedule,” Aziz told reporters in Islamabad.
The national assembly is being convened to meet in Islamabad Wednesday afternoon, he was cited as saying by private Network News International.
The statement came a day after Aziz said the government might postpone the polls.
“There could be some timing difference on the election schedule but we have not decided yet,” Aziz told reporters Sunday.
“We are still deliberating. In an emergency the parliament could give itself one year extension.”
President General Pervez Musharraf, who took over in a bloodless military coup in 1999, partially suspended the country’s constitution Saturday, curtailed civil rights and replaced top members of the judiciary who he believed would rule against his re-election Oct 6.
The move has been strongly criticised by the international community, which has urged him to restore democracy and hold fair and free elections as scheduled.
Pakistan’s attorney general also said the national and provincial assemblies will be dissolved Nov 15.
The elections will be held within three months of the dissolution, he was cited as saying by Geo news channel.