Musharraf remains confident during run-up to elections

Islamabad: Pakistan's ruling party on Wednesday expressed its confidence that it will form a new government after next week's parliamentary elections despite surveys pointing to a strong victory by President Pervez Musharraf's opponents.

Mushahid Hussain, secretary-general of Pakistan Muslim League-Q, said the party has improved education, health care and other public services during the last five years and is confident going into Monday's balloting.

"Based on our performance, we are confident that we will win the elections," Hussain told The Associated Press. "We are in favor of national reconciliation and would like to muster the support of all political forces after the elections to ensure good governance."

However, a survey released by the US government-funded International Republican Institute on Monday showed overwhelming support for the opposition and predicted that the ruling party would not fare well, Pakistanis polled planned to vote for the party of the assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and 22 percent backed a party headed by another ex-premier, Nawaz Sharif.

The survey indicated that only 14 percent of those surveyed favoured the pro-Musharraf party.