Pakistan Presidential Election Oct. 6

In this picture released by Pakistan Press Information Department, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, right, listens to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, left, during a meeting in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007. Musharraf will step down as army chief and restore civilian rule to Pakistan, but only after he secures re-election as president, a government lawyer said. (AP Photo/Pakistan Press Information Department/HO) (AP)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan on Thursday set Oct. 6 as the date for a presidential election expected to extend the eight-year rule of U.S.-allied Gen. Pervez Musharraf, despite the objections of opponents who have vowed to boycott the vote by legislators.

The government said the announcement was a boon for political stability in a nuclear-armed country buffeted by Islamic militancy.

Musharraf, who is also the army chief, has vowed to install "real democracy" in a nation that has swung between unpopular military regimes and ineffectual civilian rule. But he has resisted giving up his sweeping powers, arguing Pakistan needs strong leadership to stand up to militants.

Earlier this week, Musharraf's lawyer told Supreme Court judges deliberating his eligibility for a new five-year term that he plans to quit the military if re-elected, a key demand of the opposition. The Election Commission then said Thursday the ballot would be held Oct. 6.

The opposition has nonetheless threatened to boycott the parliamentary vote and protest in the streets if it goes forward.

Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup and made Pakistan a front-line ally of the United States in its war against terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Last year, his government reached a controversial cease-fire with pro-Taliban tribesmen that the U.S. believes has allowed al-Qaida to regroup near the Afghan border. But the deal has since collapsed, and Pakistan's army is increasingly under militant attack.

Underscoring the threat to the government, Osama bin Laden urged Pakistanis to rebel against Musharraf in a new audiotape released Thursday, saying his military's siege of a militant mosque stronghold in July makes him an infidel.

Musharraf's current term expires Nov. 15. Before then, he is expected to name his successor in the pivotal position of army chief. Parliamentary elections are to follow by mid-January.

Under pressure from Washington to broaden the base of his government, Musharraf has held talks that could lead to him share power with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto after the elections.

While the negotiations have stalled, some analysts believe the two leaders will team up to oppose the conservatives of another exiled former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and Islamist parties bitterly opposed to Musharraf's pro-U.S. policies.

Sharif's party vowed Thursday that its lawmakers would quit the assemblies if Musharraf's nomination is accepted. The former premier, who was ousted in the 1999 coup, tried to return to Pakistan last week but was deported to Saudi Arabia.