Pakistan's military government has no plan to restore the suspended parliament after exiling ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, a report said Tuesday.
"This is all kite flying that with the exile of Nawaz Sharif the government will consider or is considering the restoration of assemblies," government spokesman Major General Rashid Qureshi told the Dawn daily.
Qureshi, press secretary to military ruler General Pervez Musharraf, said general elections would be held in 2002 according to plan.
"There is no such thing like restoring assemblies on the cards," he said.
Sharif, along with 19 close relatives, started a life of exile in Saudi Arabia on Sunday after he was pardoned from lengthy prison terms for hijacking and terrorism.
The shock announcement raised speculation that Musharraf might consider resurrecting the bicameral parliament that he suspended when he seized power in October last year.
"I think the military government may try for a safe exit while keeping control of the future democratic set-up," former Sindh provincial governor Fakhruddin G. Embrahim said Monday.
Others said Sharif's removal had nullified any lingering threat he may have posed to the regime, allowing Musharraf to speed up his plan to hold elections by October 12, 2002.
"I think the government has two things in mind, restoration of the suspended assemblies or fresh elections," Pakistan Muslim League central leader Raja Zafarul Haq said.
"They should give some direction otherwise people will start saying the army wants to prolong its tenure."
Meanwhile, the media and political circles continued to criticize the "deal" leading to Sharif's release, demanding that other detained politicians under investigation or trial for corruption should get the same treatment.
The government has said it would consider releasing former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's jailed husband Asif Zardari, a former senator, if he requested clemency and surrendered his assets like Sharif.
But Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party has rejected the offer -- ISLAMABAD (AFP)
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