Musharraf’s term as president expires in 2007. General elections for assemblies that will choose the president are due in 2007, but some Musharraf aides say these could be held in 2008, with Musharraf staying on in the interim.

Newspapers on Tuesday quoted Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, the chief minister of the powerful province of Punjab, as saying that the pro-military Pakistan Muslim League would elect Musharraf as president for five more years and allow him to stay in uniform.

“There should be no misunderstanding that the national and provincial assemblies formed after elections, whether they take place in 2007 or 2008, would elect General Musharraf as president along with his uniform,” the Urdu-language Jang reported.

Elahi made the remarks at a rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, adjoining the capital Islamabad, on Monday. His comments were also reported in other newspapers.

Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless 1999 coup, has said he would decide about whether he would retain his post of army commander in chief—which critics say is incompatible with his claims to support democracy.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who was present at the rally, confirmed that Elahi made the remarks but did not speculate whether Elahi’s remarks were endorsed by Musharraf.

If Musharraf completes another five-year term after the next election, he would become the longest serving military ruler in a country that has been ruled by the army for more than half of its 57 years of history.

A former military ruler, General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq, who died in a plane crash in 1988, ruled the country for 11 years.

Musharraf had promised to give up his army post by the end of 2004 in a deal with an Islamist alliance in return for support for constitutional changes validating his rule and giving him extensive powers.

Musharraf later went back on the pledge, saying quitting the army would undermine Pakistan’s support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism and his efforts to make peace with India.