January 20, 2007	Saturday	Zilhaj 29, 1427

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LAHORE, Jan 19: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Sher Afgan Niazi and ruling PML Senator Dr Khalid Ranjha have rejected as an attempt to create a new controversy the statement of PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar about the date of the presidential election.

Media reports have quoted Mr Babar as saying that the next presidential election is due in 2009 as General Pervez Musharraf's term as president had started on December 31, 2003 -- the day he took vote of confidence from parliament -- and would complete the same day in 2008.

And laying further emphasis, Senator Dr Babar Awan, PPP finance secretary and Benazir Bhutto's legal adviser, said what Mr Babar said represented the party's point of view.

"No election of the president is due this year," Senator Dr Awan asserted.

However, Dr Niazi told Dawn on Friday: “The PPP leader's statement reflects an entirely new thinking, which is not supported by the Constitution. The president's term started on November 16, 2002 when he took the oath of office. This is the government's position on the subject.”

He said the election commission would announce schedule for the presidential election in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. He reiterated that the presidential election would be held between September and October this year, and anybody qualified for the post would be free to contest.

He said General Musharraf alone was the ruling coalition's candidate for the office.

Reacting to the PPP’s viewpoint, Dr Ranjha said the president's term started the day he was administered oath of the office i.e. November 16, 2002, and under the Constitution, the next election of the president was due to be held between September 15 and December 17 this year.

The assemblies which would be in place at the time would serve as the electoral college for the president, he said.

In his assertions, Senator Dr Awan said since General Musharraf had already held the office of the president ‘twice’, he was not qualified for being a candidate for another term under Article 44(2) of the Constitution.

He said the PPP had rejected the idea of getting General Musharraf re-elected from the existing assemblies as it was the right of the new assemblies to choose a new president for the country.

PML-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq told Dawn that he had asked his party's constitutional experts to examine the question of the fresh presidential elections.

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