ISLAMABAD, Dec 27: The Minister of State for Information, Tariq Azeem, said on Wednesday that the existing assemblies will complete their tenures and the next general elections will be held on Jan 15, 2008.

Talking to newsmen at a dinner, the state minister said the next elections will be held in the presence of international observers and President Gen Pervez Musharraf will be re-elected for the next term by the present assemblies between Sept 15 and Oct 15, 2007.

“The present assembly will remain the electoral college of the presidential election and right after three months general elections would be held in the country,” he said.

The minister said the ruling Pakistan Muslim League will again field Shaukat Aziz as its prime ministerial candidate. “It has already been settled that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will be the candidate of the PML for the seat of prime minister,” he added.

He said the government will invite international observes, including that of the European Union, who will vigilantly monitor the next general elections. Answering a question about the meeting between PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, the state minister said: “It was just a ‘chance meeting’ and it should not be considered a part of an alleged ‘deal’ between the two political parties,” he remarked. The two leaders met at a marriage ceremony and they did not discuss political matters on the occasion.

“Their meeting will not affect the future political environment of the country,” he said. About Afghan refugees, the minister said Pakistan would fully support them and provide them the basic necessities of life.

Talking about fencing and land mining of the Pakistan-Afghan border, he said the government was doing this on a very small portion of the 27,000km-long border and instead of criticising Islamabad’s effort to stop movement of terrorists, the Afghan government should hail it.

Reacting to the planned elections, as announced by the minister, the Pakistan People’s Party late on Wednesday refused to take his announcement on face value. The party said it wanted to keep its options open so that consultations could be made with its allies.

“We do not know whether this is information or disinformation,” said Sherry Rehman, the central information secretary of the PPP. She found it “highly illegal and unconstitutional to compel the outgoing assemblies to re-elect Gen Musharraf for another term.”

She said her party would protest and challenge the government’s move. In her initial reaction, she also emphasised the need for consultations among component parties of the ARD and other opposition platforms on the issue.

She said the PPP stand on the issue had remained unchanged, and the party believed that the existing assemblies could not elect a man twice for the same post.

In response to the state minister’s statement, PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif told Our Special Correspondent in London that it represented an important development and his party would give a detailed reaction on Thursday over the issue.