By DPA
Islamabad : Pakistan would lift the state of emergency imposed by President Pervez Musharraf next month and hold general elections in February, government officials and members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) said Thursday.
Elections are likely to be held in February but the state of emergency would possibly be lifted in December, Attorney General Malik Mohammad Qayyum told the DawnNews channel.
The announcement came a day after US President George W. Bush called Musharraf and asked him to hold elections as scheduled in mid-January and quit his post of army chief.
But the head of the PML-Q, Malik Abdul Qayuum, told reporters in Islamabad that the government was considering extending the term of the parliament by two or three weeks.
The National Assembly was due to be dissolved on Nov 15, the day it completes its five-year term.
The government has been changing its position on the holding of elections. Three days ago, Qayuum said the elections would be held on time and so did Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
Musharraf, who took over in a bloodless military coup in 1999, has been under international pressure to restore democracy since Saturday when he declared a state of emergency to prevent a Supreme Court ruling that could invalidate his re-election.
The Netherlands has already suspended financial aid to Pakistan while other Western countries, including Britain, said they were considering the option.
Opposition to the state of emergency is also growing at home. Hundreds of protesting lawyers have been arrested over the past six days while there have been regular clashes between demonstrators and the police across the country, leaving dozens injured.