President Pervez Musharraf has assured ruling coalition MPs that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would not be allowed to return to Pakistan before the forthcoming parliamentary elections later this year, according to an official statement. Addressing the MPs at a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Thursday night, Musharraf responded to their queries to know whether the government would allow Sharif to return. They feared Sharif s return would pose a host of political challenges to the ruling party in the Punjab. The president assured the MPs that the next prime minister would be from the ruling PML headed by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as they would win the elections on the basis of their performance. Musharraf said the elections would be held in a free, fair and transparent manner. The current assemblies will complete their constitutional term, which ends on November 15, he added. The president asked the MPs to prepare for the elections and capitalize on the unprecedented development that has taken place during the tenure of the present government. He ruled out the dissolution of the local councils prior to the general elections and dismissed the demand of Benazir Bhutto s Pakistan People s Party (PPP) for foreign assistance in investigating the October 18 Karachi blasts. He said that investigations would be carried out by Pakistani agencies and all those involved in these explosions would be brought to justice. The president said that the government would not allow any foreign country or agency or International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to interrogate Pakistan s noted nuclear scientist, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan. If anyone has questions, he should send them to us and we will conduct the probe ourselves. Musharraf said the government would not allow any foreign forces to conduct operations on Pakistan s territory.
