New Delhi: Pakistan former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has welcomed General Pervez Musharraf's announcement of the election schedule as she plans a mass protest this week.
But opposition called on to lift a state of Emergency, saying upcoming parliamentary elections would be a sham unless citizens' rights were fully restored. Several parties were mulling a boycott.
Musharraf said on Sunday that he would stick to January 9 schedule for the polls, but set no time limit on Emergency rule, which has resulted in the arrests of thousands of his critics, a ban on rallies and the blacking out of independent TV networks.
The measures, he argued, were necessary to ensure ''absolutely fair and transparent elections.''
Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup, appeared defiant but bitter at rising criticism of his decision to suspend the constitution just over a week ago, a step he says was necessary to combat rising Islamic militancy that had sown ''turmoil, shock and confusion'' in Pakistan.
''It was the most difficult decision I have ever taken in my life,'' Musharraf told his first news conference since declaring the emergency Nov. 3, voicing anger at those who questioned his commitment to democracy.
''I could have preserved myself, but then it would have damaged the nation. I found myself between a rock and a hard surface. I have no personal ego and ambitions to guard. I have the national interest foremost,'' he said, sitting on a dais at the grand presidential palace in Islamabad.
(With AP inputs)
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