Musharraf

ISLAMABAD (Reuters):

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf appointed yesterday 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.

As expected, Senate chairman and ruling party member Mohammadmian Soomro will head a caretaker line-up that will be sworn in today, said Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, a close Musharraf ally.

But opposition party officials said no matter who heads the caretaker administration, elections that army chief Musharraf has promised for early January won't be free and fair under emergency rule he imposed on November 3.

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.