Pakistan's government has lifted a house arrest order imposed on opposition leader Benazir Bhutto to prevent her from leading a rally against President Pervez Musharraf's emergency rule.
"The government has withdrawn Bhutto's detention order, and from now, she is free to move wherever she likes," Aftab Cheema, police chief of the eastern city of Lahore, said. "Police will remain (outside) for her security, but there will be no restriction on her movement."
Earlier today, Gen Musharraf appointed the chairman of the upper house Senate as caretaker prime minister to oversee general elections the opposition says it doubts can be free and fair.
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| Supporters of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) rally while holding the party flag on the outskirts of Lahore. |
As expected, Senate chairman and ruling party member Mohammadmian Soomro will head a caretaker line-up that will be sworn in tomorrow, said Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, a close Musharraf ally.
But opposition party officials said no matter who heads the caretaker administration, elections that Gen Musharraf has promised for early January won't be free and fair under emergency rule he imposed on November 3rd.
Struggling to secure another term of office in the face of legal challenges, he suspended the constitution, fired judges seen as hostile to his rule, rounded up thousands of opposition politicians and rights activists and curbed the media.
"We totally reject it. This appointment, in fact, is part of General Musharraf's scheme to perpetuate his rule," said Mushahidullah Khan, vice president of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's party.
The National Assembly - which critics say is a pro-Musharraf rubber stamp convened after what they say were rigged polls in 2002 - completes its term today.
Ms Bhutto, has said the possibility of a vote boycott would be discussed at an opposition meeting next week.
With the United States and other allies demanding speedy steps towards democracy in nuclear-armed Pakistan, Gen Musharraf promised to hold parliamentary elections by January 9th, but he has not said when the constitution would be restored.