LONDON, July 1: Dissatisfaction with President Musharraf’s rule is growing and he faces the prospect of having to step down in October when his current term as Army Chief ends, The Sunday Telegraph has predicted.

The ST said Gen Musharraf is hoping to strike a deal with the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to ensure his re-election as president from the outgoing parliament.

The deal will allow her to return from exile and become prime minister in return for the support of her opposition Pakistan People's Party.

But the newspaper quoted Benazir as saying on Saturday that it was difficult to be sure what the president would do next.

“The situation is fluid, uncertain and unpredictable,” she said.

“The military dictatorship has undermined the constitution, the civil institutions and the parliament. It is one-man rule and hence there is an unpredictability of what might happen.”

She also voiced concerns about the validity of any election results, claiming 30 per cent of the population had been barred from voting.

“Unless all eligible voters are permitted to vote, the elections would be rigged and the results predetermined before the first ballot was cast,” she said.

Gen Musharraf's problems have been exacerbated by the dispute over Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry whom he suspended in March over accusations of misconduct.

The president has been taken aback by the scale of the support for the judge, with critics claiming that he feared Mr Chaudhry might permit legal challenges to his election plans.

“The government has chosen to dissolve the assemblies after the decision of the court because, if there is an adverse decision against the judge, they feel that the political parties would be too busy to rally around him,” one official told the ST.

“All the politicians would be in their respective constituencies, canvassing for votes.”For the first time in his eight-year rule, Gen Musharraf is showing signs of nerves. Members of the ruling coalition have openly urged him to call fresh elections, and warned him against trying to be re-elected by the present assemblies.

Officials say that any delay in dissolving the assemblies would create problems for the president.

“The entire election process would take nearly four months,” said a constitutional expert.“In that case, it would leave very little time for Musharraf to hobnob with newly elected MPs, and to manoeuvre to get himself elected as a president for the second time. Time is really running out for him.”

Gen Musharraf is believed to have called a meeting of his “kitchen cabinet” of senior advisers on Monday to canvass their opinion on whether he should dissolve the assemblies immediately, or await the court verdict on the suspended chief justice.