ISLAMABAD, Dec 20: The general elections will be held according to schedule in 2007 and assemblies will complete their tenure for the first time in Pakistan's history, says PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.

Ruling out any possibility of early elections, the PML chief said that the tenure of the assemblies could even be extended beyond 2007 if the opposition failed to give up its campaign for early elections.

He was addressing a press conference after presiding over a four-hour-long meeting to discuss the party's organizational matters. It was also attended by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. Reconciliation was possible with the opposition only on national issues and negotiations did not mean early polls or the formation of a national government, he said.

Discounting the possibility of talks between the government and politicians living abroad, the PML president said that only politicians living inside the country would be involved in the dialogue to evolve a consensus on national issues, he said.

He also rejected the possibility of the imposition of martial law and reminded that President Pervez Musharraf had already dismissed the notion of the formation of a national government and said democratic system was in place and functioning well.

PML meeting was also attended by party's senior vice-presidents, four provincial presidents, secretaries and senior party members, including Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim and Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousaf.

Chaudhry Shujaat said that the meeting had discussed the passport issue and decided that passports should contain details about religion. The government, he said, had been asked to review the decision to delete such details from passports. The meeting endorsed the continuation of the current system and called for efforts to strengthen the political setup, he said.

Prime Minister Aziz, Chaudhry Shujaat said, had assured that development projects would be completed without discrimination. Development projects, he said, would be completed even in areas where PML lost during elections.

He said that the meeting had condemned terrorism, extremism and what it termed atheist forces and said that the party's central working committee (CWC) would be finalized within two weeks.

The meeting decided to initiate a country-wide mass contact campaign from January 1 and that the prime minister would direct federal ministers to undertake tours of various areas of the country apprise themselves of the people's problems and find solutions.

He insisted that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal had accepted President Musharraf in uniform by signing the agreement on the 17th Amendment. Activities of political parties, he said, would not be hindered but they would not be allowed to bring out processions.

Referring to the issue of the holding of local government elections on party or non-party basis, PML president said that the party had so far not discussed the issue but party members were of the view that union council elections should be held on non-party basis to avoid division among the 'Biradris' (clans) at the local level.

The meeting decided to fill vacant posts in different government departments without delay. A coordination committee would be set up and it would hold fortnightly meetings to discuss the current political situation.

PML's Secretary General Senator Mushahid Hussain and Secretary Information Senator Tariq Azeem said that there was no chance of the formation of a national government and the assemblies would not be dissolved on anyone's request or demand.