Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was gearing up on Friday for a January election as another opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, hoped to persuade her to boycott the vote.

President Pervez Musharraf stepped down on Wednesday as army chief and on Thursday, hours after taking the oath as civilian president, promised to lift emergency rule by December 16.

He also vowed that parliamentary elections would go ahead on January 8 and urged everyone, including Bhutto and Sharif, to take part on what he described as a level playing field.