(Al Jazeera)Officials from Pakistan's ruling party say elections aimed at securing a new five-year term for Pervez Musharraf , the president, will take place in the first week of October.
The announcement was made on Saturday, just one day after Benazir Bhutto, opposition leader and former prime minister, said she would return to Pakistan on October 18.
Officials said that the election commission would soon confirm a date for the presidential poll.
The president, whose term expires on November 15, is elected by an electoral college comprising of all national and provincial politicians.
Azeem Chaudhry , from Musharaff's Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, said: "As far as the ruling party is concerned, we have finalised our strategy to elect the president for another five-year term ... we have enough votes to easily elect President Musharraf for another term."
Officials said a delegation from the ruling party, headed by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain , its leader, met with Musharraf on Saturday to assure him that they would elect him for another term.