(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-10-03 10:34

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf made moves Tuesday to smooth his re-election by naming a successor as army chief as his government dropped graft charges against possible ally Benazir Bhutto.

General Musharraf, a close US ally and leader of the only nuclear-armed Islamic nation, looks set to win re-election on Saturday in votes by the two-chamber parliament and four provincial assemblies.

While more than 80 opposition members of parliament resigned to protest against his re-election bid, dropping the cases against ex-prime minister Bhutto is likely to convince her assembly members to at least take part in the vote, giving it vital credibility.

The decision to grant immunity to Bhutto and other civilian leaders, was made at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, a government minister said. It came a day before Bhutto was due to decide strategy at party talks in London Wednesday. She is planning to return home from self-exile on October 18.

Musharraf has vowed that, if re-elected, he would quit as army chief before being sworn in for a new term by November 15.

The appointment of Lieutenant-General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani deputy army chief and designation as Musharraf's successor is the clearest indication yet Musharraf will follow through with his promise and give up his uniform.

"General Kayani will take over as chief of the army staff after this post falls vacant," a military official said.

Chain-smoking Kayani had been director-general of the military's main security agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, until last month.

Pakistan is an important non-NATO ally for the United States. Its support is regarded as crucial for the success of Western military efforts in Afghanistan, and in the hunt for Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida in tribal areas on the Afghan border.

Kayani was deputy military secretary to then prime minister Benazir Bhutto during her first government in the late 1980s.

Bhutto has been in talks with Musharraf on a power-sharing deal and Kayani was involved in the discussions.

One of her main demands has been that she and other civilian officials be given immunity from prosecution.

Despite slumping popularity and last-minute legal challenges, Musharraf is expected to win Saturday's vote. His ruling coalition holds a majority in parliament, which is due to be dissolved next month before a general election due by mid-January.

Apparently unable to derail Musharraf's re-election plans, members of an opposition alliance led by the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif quit the national and provincial assemblies in protest Tuesday.

The National Assembly speaker said 85 members of the 342-seat lower house resigned.

Agencies