Pakistani authorities said earlier the elections, originally planned for January, could be postponed for a year after Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in the country on Saturday, citing a dangerous rise in militant activity.
The head of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Benazir Bhutto, said opposition parties planned to go ahead with a rally on Friday, despite the emergency measures imposing a ban on public protests.
"The constitution should be restored and Election Commission should announce the schedule for the next general elections," Bhutto was quoted by the Pakistan Times newspaper as saying.
Raja Javed Akhlas, mayor of Rawalpindi, located a few kilometers from the capital Islamabad, told local media Thursday, "The government has decided not give permission for holding public gatherings and rallies due menace of suicide attacks."
Opposition leaders said hundreds of Bhutto's supporters have been arrested to prevent them attending Friday's rally, the PPP leader though is determined to march despite terrorism and threats of arrest.
The president banned the Supreme Court from overturning the emergency order, blocked non-state TV broadcasts, and restricted peoples' movement in the country, measures which have been widely condemned by the international community.
According to Pakistan's Interior Ministry about 670 people in Pakistan have been killed and over 1,800 injured in a total of 157 terrorist attacks this year.
General Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999. He has since retained his presidential and military titles, as well as the right to dissolve parliament and dismiss the government.
