ISLAMABAD, April 8: Visiting US envoy Christina Rocca said on Monday it was up to Pakistan to decide whether a planned referendum to extend President Pervez Musharraf’s rule was legal and constitutional, embassy sources said.

Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca met Musharraf earlier on Monday and praised Pakistan for its cooperation in the US-led war on terror.

She later met with representatives of the country’s main political parties and had what one embassy source called “a really good discussion” over dinner.

Rocca said it was important that October’s parliamentary elections were fair and democratic, but the question of the referendum was an internal one for Pakistan.

“This is all up to the Pakistani people,” an embassy source quoted Rocca as saying. “It is up to Pakistani institutions to determine what is constitutional and legal.”

“We welcome the beginning of the process that would lead to democratic elections,” the source quoted Rocca as saying. “It is also necessary this process be fair and democratic — there is no other way of doing it.”

Rocca praised Pakistan’s cooperation and said it was “an important partnership that has benefited both sides,” the source said.—Reuters