KARACHI, March 4: Federal Minister Babar Khan Ghauri, who belongs to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, called upon President Pervez Musharraf on Sunday to defer the next general election for one year to ensure completion of major projects and to allow the situation in the region to stabilise.

“It is my individual opinion but I hope my party has the same opinion about postponement of general election for one year, keeping in view the situation in Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq, I think there is a need to delay the general election and extend the tenure of the National Assembly by one year”, Mr. Ghauri told Dawn.

However , Dr Farooq Sattar, Deputy Convener of the MQM Coordination Committee, clarified that this was not his party’s position. He told Dawn that although Mr Ghauri was the party’s nominee in the federal cabinet, this was his personal opinion. He has forwarded the opinion to the party and the Coordination Committee will discuss it with him,” Dr Sattar said.

Mr Ghauri said the 1973 Constitution allowed the president to extend the tenure of the National Assembly and, therefore, he was not demanding anything unconstitutional.

Mr. Ghauri, who holds the portfolio of Ports and Shipping, said that with the announcement of the election schedule, a caretaker government would have to be formed three months prior to the election. The caretaker set-up could not effectively monitor the development projects in the country due to its preoccupation with the general election and as a result the pace of work would slow down, he added.