ISLAMABAD (BBC) - President Pervez Musharraf has said he hopes new parliamentary elections can be held in Pakistan by January 9.

He tasked the Election Commission with preparing for the vote for national and regional assemblies, and said it was up to them to determine the exact date.
Gen. Musharraf was addressing his first news conference since declaring emergency rule on November 3.
He said that had been his most difficult decision. But he did not say when emergency rule would be lifted.
His allies abroad and critics at home have been urging him to bring the emergency to an end.
They question whether free and fair elections can ever be held while constitutional safeguards are suspended.
However Musharraf insisted he had done nothing wrong and had not violated the constitution.
""I stand by it because I think it was in the national interest.""
He said political leaders who had been arrested would be freed but that emergency rule was needed to ensure that the general election went smoothly.
""I would expect that all of them get released and participate in the elections, and they'll be free to go and do electioneering as per the rules given by the Election Commission.""
""But if they disturb law and order, and if they want to create anarchy in Pakistan in the name of elections, in the name of democracy, we must not allow that.""
Musharraf said elections should be held on schedule.
""I would request the Election Commission to hold the elections as soon as possible... which means, if you calculate 45-60 days from 20 November, we should have the elections before 9 January,"" he said.
National and regional assemblies would be dissolved in the coming days once they had completed their full terms. Provincial chief ministers had agreed to holding the new election on a single day, he said.
The Pakistani leader also gave no date for when he intends to step down as army chief of staff and take an oath as a civilian president.
He said that depended on how quickly the Supreme Court could validate his recent presidential election.
His news conference came as former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto headed to the eastern city of Lahore to prepare for a large-scale protest against emergency rule.
The planned march - from Lahore to Islamabad - is due to start on Tuesday and could draw thousands of protesters if it is allowed to take place, correspondents say.
Asked whether Bhutto's popularity had increased since emergency rule was imposed, President Musharraf countered that supporters outside her Islamabad house numbered 150-200.
He said people had to go to the rural areas - which account for 70% of Pakistan's 160 million population - to really gauge her popularity.
""In the West I know through your papers and through your remarks, you think that she is the next prime minister. I don't know who has given you this impression, how you have counted this vote, and what your calculations are based on.
""She has to win the election. If her party wins the elections, then only will we go into the other stage of whether to see who is going to be the prime minister.""