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ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf conferred with key aides Thursday to hand-pick a caretaker government that will steer the emergency-ruled nation toward elections.
His presidency officially comes to an end at midnight, the same time as parliament dissolves, amidst a mounting political crisis triggered by his declaration of emergency rule.
The military ruler has pledged general elections by January 9, but said the state of emergency will stay in place until then.
The government said Musharraf, as the incumbent, would remain in office as both army chief and president until the Supreme Court rules on the legality of his victory in an October 6 presidential election.
Opposition leaders including detained former premier Benazir Bhutto have called on Musharraf to quit, while international pressure is growing for him to give up his role as army chief and end the emergency.
"In the constitution the incumbent will continue until the next president takes oath. That is only a common-sense approach, that you cannot have the office lying vacant," Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azeem told AFP.
Musharraf's lawyers told the Supreme Court in September that his five-year term in office would end on November 15. He also promised to shed his uniform before his second term.
Critics say jitters over the likely court ruling led to Musharraf imposing the state of emergency on November 3, following which he gutted the court and replaced its top judges.
Azeem said that pending the court's judgement Musharraf could take off his uniform by the end of November -- "or it could be even earlier."
"As soon as the Supreme Court can remove that hitch they will notify his election victory and he will be able to take the oath. Before he takes the oath, he will take off the uniform," Azeem said.
Parliament will dissolve at midnight after serving its first full term in the history of Pakistan. The interim government is set to be sworn in Friday.
The opposition, most of them detained, exiled or under house arrest, are considering whether to boycott of the polls, saying they can be neither free nor fair under the state of emergency.
Bhutto and another former premier, Nawaz Sharif, agreed to cooperate to try to force Musharraf from office, a top official in Sharif's party said.
He said the two opposition leaders, who have been rivals in the past, were ready to bury their differences for a "joint struggle" to oust Musharraf, who is president as well as head of the army.
Bhutto, who says she has killed off power-sharing talks with Musharraf, is currently under house arrest in the eastern city of Lahore, while Sharif leads his party from exile in Saudi Arabia.
The US consul-general in Lahore crossed barbed wire barricades to hold two hours of talks with Bhutto, after which he urged Musharraf to end emergency rule and resign as army chief.
"Emergency (rule) should be lifted and restrictions on the media also withdrawn," envoy Brian Hunt told reporters.
Another opposition figure contacted by Bhutto earlier in the week, cricket legend Imran Khan, was moved to Lahore's biggest prison early Thursday after being charged under anti-terror laws for protesting against emergency rule.
Around 3,000 students protested at the university in Lahore where he was arrested the previous day.
Musharraf said in a series of interviews that he would not consider quitting until the turmoil in the country was over, telling Sky News: "I am not a dictator, I want a democracy."
Global outrage over the state of emergency continued.
The United States, which sees Musharraf as a key ally against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, warned Musharraf it would not accept coming elections as free and fair unless he lifts the clampdown.
John Negroponte, number two to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, is due to arrive Friday to press Washington's concerns. - AFP/ir
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