ISLAMABAD, July 2: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi reiterated on Sunday that sitting assemblies would elect President Gen Pervez Musharraf as ‘president-in-uniform’ for the next term.

Speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of newly-elected office bearers of Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club, the chief minister said: “Gen Musharraf will continue to serve as president-in-uniform.”

Commenting on the Charter of Democracy, the Punjab chief minister termed it a good omen for the ruling PML and said now his party had only one opponent instead of two in the next general elections. “In fact, after signing the charter, the PML-N has merged into the PPP,” he said.

He claimed that following the signing of the charter, people from PML-N were joining the ruling PML and “almost 80 per cent” of them had joined his party. “Now, the polls will be contested between the PPP and our party,” he added.

Mr Elahi was optimistic that the ruling PML would “win the next general elections” with popular support and because of the government’s people-friendly policies. “The present government has brought reforms in all sectors to make the country economically viable and provide better life to the masses,” he said.

The chief minister said that the Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) was also opposed to the charter of democracy because, according to him, it had “no relevance with Islamic norms”.

He claimed that the MMA would support his party in the next elections.

Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani said the next general elections would be held on time.

He said the government believed in freedom of the press and it was a fact that the media in Pakistan enjoyed the most conducive atmosphere among all Muslim states.

WAGE BOARD: The information minister said owners of newspapers had agreed to resolve the issue of seventh wage board award and work in cooperation with the ruling PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, in that regard.

“We have asked the newspapers owners to sit in the capital only for a week and resolve the issue,” the minister said.