LAHORE/ISLAMABAD, Dec 28: President Pervez Musharraf will start his New Year by seeking a confidence vote from his electoral college on Jan 1, three days ahead of the Saarc summit during which he will receive Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee either separately or in the company of other heads of state and government.

The ruling coalition is taking steps to meet the formality, proposed by the MMA more as a face saver than a constitutional requirement, in a respectable manner to ensure that the general meets the Indian leader from a position of strength.

Gen Musharraf had taken over as president in 2001, shortly before proceeding to Agra for talks with the Indian premier.

He will start meeting the legislators, including provincial assembly members, from Monday.

Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Sunday presided over a meeting of the parliamentary party of the PML-Q and the allied parties to finalize the strategy for the vote.

Members of the Punjab Assembly are scheduled to meet President Musharraf in Rawalpindi on Tuesday. They will first assemble at the Punjab House before proceeding to the Army House, the venue of the meeting.

The government, jettisoning its reservations about the PPP and the PML-N, has also invited the legislators of the two parties to a meeting with the president the same day. The MMA lawmakers have also been told by phone that the president would like to see them with their counterparts from other parties.

However, there is little hope of the opposition legislators, especially those belonging to the ARD, agreeing to meet the man they do not recognize as president or the army chief.

In a bid to secure more votes for the president, Mr Elahi said that opposition legislators supporting the general at the time of the trust vote would face no legal consequences under the defection laws. He told the parliamentary party that legal experts had examined the matter and concluded that party discipline would not apply in the case of a confidence vote for the president.

Mr Elahi, who at present is among the closest friends of the president, condemned the attempts on the general’s life. The participants also passed a resolution to condemn the assassination bids.

The chief minister directed all members to ensure their presence in the house at the time of the confidence vote.

Monday’s will be the first direct and formal contact of the president with the provincial legislators after the revival of the democratic set-up about a year ago.

The direct contact is aimed at soliciting support from the provincial legislators as the government-MMA agreement mentions of a vote of confidence from parliament and provincial assemblies within a month to, by implication, constitutionalize President Musharraf’s office.

During his meeting with the MPAs, the president is expected to explain his vision of governance as under the accord he would remain the president till 2007.

The government-MMA accord is silent about the consequence of the vote of confidence. As there is no provision in the constitution for a vote of confidence for the president, it is not clear whether less than 50 per cent of votes would be considered a no confidence in the president.

In a nationwide address on Wednesday, Gen Musharraf had categorically stated that he considered himself validly elected president of the country.