Musharraf confident of victory in Pak Prez poll

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who is seeking a second five-year term in uniform in a key poll today, has expressed confidence that he will be re-elected, and pledged to quit as army chief after the issuance of notification in this regard.

"I will shed the uniform after the issuance of notification regarding my becoming the next President and before being sworn in," he said addressing MPs of the ruling PML-Q and its coalition partners during a dinner at the President House late last night.

Musharraf said political rivalries would cease after the issuance of the 'National Reconciliation Ordinance,' which he promulgated on the eve of the poll.

He expressed the hope that the ordinance - which gives amnesty to former Premier Benazir Bhutto and other political leaders, except exiled ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in court cases against them - would give rise to a new era of political reconciliation in Pakistan.

The PML-Q and coalition parties assured Musharraf of their support.

The Supreme Court, yesterday, said the result of the election should not be announced till it decided on petitions filed by the military ruler's rival candidates in the poll, challenging his eligibility to contest without quitting the post of army chief.