September 18, 2007	Tuesday	Ramazan 05, 1428

HARIPUR, Sept 17: Former NA speaker Gauhar Ayub Khan has said that there is no constitutional hitch in re-electing Gen Pervez Musharraf as president from the sitting National Assembly.

“There is no mention of the Senate and provincial assemblies as the electoral college for presidential election in the Constitution and the NA can elect him with a simple majority,” he told newsmen here on Monday.

He claimed that the majority General Musharraf needed for his re-election was very much there, with the ruling coalition ready to vote for him.

He said the credibility of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League had improved in the public and it would form the next government, which would again be a coalition.

However, he was nor sure which party was going to be the partner of the PML.

Answering a question, Mr Khan claimed that the Pakistan People’s Party and the PML-Nawaz had considerably lost their vote bank and failed to motivate their rank and file, so it was not possible for either of them to form a government on its own.

He, however, ruled out chances of any deal with the PPP and imposition of emergency or the martial law.

About the current spate of suicide attacks, the PML leader termed it an unfortunate development adding that the politicians holding big public gatherings needed to be extra cautious in terms of security.