LAHORE, Sept 17: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has set January as deadline for announcement of general election schedule, otherwise the party will launch a protest drive against the People’s Party-led government.

A decision to this effect was taken at a consultative meeting recently held at Raiwind residence of PML-N President Nawaz Sharif here, one of the participants told Dawn on Monday.

He said apprehending the PPP might try to delay the polls to get President Zardari re-elected from the present assemblies, the PML-N decided to ‘go to any extent’ for blocking such a move.

“The party will not allow the government to delay the general election even for a single day beyond the constitutional limit of March, 2013. For the purpose it wants the prime minister to complete consultation with the opposition leader in the National Assembly on caretaker government, which will give the election schedule by January 2013,” said the PML-N official, who did not want to be named.

The official said if the process of consultation for interim setup was further delayed and the election schedule was not given by January next year PML-N would be forced to mobilise the masses against the government.

He said the party could even resort to a long march, like the one it called for restoration of superior courts’ judges, if the PPP tried to be smart.

To a query, he said the party won’t allow the government to postpone the electoral exercise till September or October 2013.

The five-year term of President Zardari completes on Sept 5, 2013.

The official said the PML-N was consulting its legal minds on various options the PPP government could go for to delay the polls which include imposition of emergency by the President under Article 180 of the Constitution, holding of local bodies polls before the general elections, etc.