ISLAMABAD, Sept 11: Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Qazi Muhammad Farooq said on Tuesday that the schedule for election to the office of the President of Pakistan would be announced in a few days.

He said that the election would be held in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

Official sources told Dawn that the schedule was most likely to be announced on September 17.

President General Pervez Musharraf is so far the lone candidate in the field, with his declared intention to get himself re-elected in uniform.

Opposition leaders have already filed petitions in the Supreme Court challenging Musharraf’s holding of dual office of the president and the army chief.

The apex court is to commence hearing of one such petition on September 17.

Official sources, however, say that the president would doff his military uniform if the talks for a deal with PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto prove fruitful.

They said in such a case, a constitutional package would be brought before the parliament that would remove legal obstacles in the way of election of Musharraf as president.

Legal experts say that under the existing laws, a government servant has to wait for two years to become eligible to contest elections even as a member of parliament. They said a person qualified to become an MP is eligible to contest presidential polls.They, however, said the parliament was empowered to give immunity to Musharraf as it did when it passed the 17th constitutional amendment.

Meanwhile, a senior pathologist Professor Anwar ul Haque, who was recently transferred from Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences to the ministry of health for seeking information from the Election Commission on how can a government servant contest presidential polls, on Tuesday wrote a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner challenging the eligibility of General Musharraf to contest election to the office of the president.

Prof Haque said in his letter deportation of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif amounted to ridiculing the judiciary which rendered Musharraf disqualified from contesting presidential polls under Article 63G of the Constitution.