“Obviously, he (Musharraf) is not as strong as he was before,” the unnamed source told The News daily.
After Musharraf doffed his military uniform in November, he had become a “simple president”, the source said. The presidential aide “conceded” that Musharraf might quit if the people vote for parties opposed to him, the daily said.

If “anti-Musharraf forces” came to power after the polls to the national and four provincial assemblies, the President would make “critical decisions”, the source was quoted as saying.

Asked if Musharraf had devised any immediate “exit strategy” that might include a decision to step down before the polls, the aide said, “No, not at all.”

The source also said the elections would be fair, free and independent and there would be no rigging as is being alleged by major opposition parties. “I can assure you that the elections would be the fairest in the history of Pakistan,” the aide claimed.