The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Islamabad

Pakistan will vote in general elections on January 8, officials announced Tuesday, setting a schedule for polls which the opposition has threatened to boycott amid the crisis over emergency rule.

It kick-starts campaigning in a process designed to return Pakistan to democratic rule and came a day after the Supreme Court swatted away the main legal challenges to President Pervez Musharraf's own re-election last month.

Announcing the date, chief election commissioner Qazi Muhammad Farooq said his officials would ensure fair and impartial polls, despite claims to the contrary by the opposition. "The attention of the entire world is focused on our elections," he said on state television. "I would therefore appeal to the participants and the voters to cooperate with the election commission in holding elections peacefully."