Shaukat Aziz denies striking deal with Bhutto's PPP

Islamabad, Apr 23: Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has denied striking any deal with former premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and said the parliamentary elections will be held on time. Parliamentary elections are scheduled by the end of 2007 or early 2008, amid reports that a power sharing deal between Ms Bhutto and military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf is in final stages. But both deny anything of the sort.

About re-election of President Musharraf, the Prime Minister explained that the present assemblies, through a two-thirds majority passed a bill in October 2004 to allow the President to be in uniform till December this year.

He said the election of president is due in September-October this year and added that President Musharraf will be re-elected by the present assemblies with a comfortable majority.

''The present assemblies will complete their tenure and there will be no reshuffling in the cabinet,'' he told a press conference late yesterday.

The Prime Minister said for the first time, the present assemblies would complete their tenure since 1985.

He said Pakistan Muslim League and its allied parties will contest the election on a single platform.

Rejecting any deal with Pakistan Peoples Party, the Prime Minister said there is no deal with any party and PML has a deal with the masses on the basis of their welfare.

On the ongoing judicial crisis, Mr Aziz said every action in reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was in accordance with the law and Constitution.

President Musharraf had sacked the country's top judge on March 9 on charges of misuse of power and sent a reference against him in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

Justice Chaudhry, however, denies wrongdoing and has now taken his case to the apex court, which he once headed.

UNI