ISLAMABAD, Aug 15: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said here on Wednesday that the three pillars of the state must work in harmony within their constitutional limits to ensure political stability and sustained economic growth.

He said people needed peace and security and opportunities to earn their livelihood. The coming electoral process, therefore, must be completed peacefully, freely and fairly, followed by a smooth transfer of power, he said.

The president was talking to a group of senators of the PML and allied parties before a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at the PM’s House. PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was present on the occasion.

The president said he was confident that the Senate, with equal representation from all the federating units, would provide the much-needed continuity to the political system as the nation moved through the presidential and general elections.

Gen Musharraf said he was equally confident that the judiciary and executive would perform their constitutional roles in taking Pakistan forward on the democratic path and help maintain and even accelerate the face of economic progress.

Referring to his own re-election, he said that he would strictly abide by the Constitution and act within the parameters of any judgment of the Supreme Court on the subject.

President Musharraf said he had worked for political and economic stability of Pakistan and had he not taken certain difficult decisions in the first few years after assumption of office, Pakistan today would have been facing unimaginable economic and political difficulties.

He complimented Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his team for helping him take the country out of the economic crisis in which it had been mired by previous rulers.

He announced that work on mega water reservoir projects would be taken up in the next five years and one of the major dams would be completed before 2015.

He said he was committed to strengthening democratic institutions which alone could provide the required strength to economy and relief to the poor masses who had suffered the most during the past.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that the process of re-electing the president would be conducted under the provisions of the Constitution.

The senators expressed full support for government’s policies and said that the people of Pakistan wanted this era of prosperity to continue.