President Musharraf dispelled the reports that he was going to meet Shahbaz Sharif in London during his forthcoming foreign visit abroad. However, he said, he was open to the idea of a national government after the elections. The President warned that political instability would distract the country from the war against extremism and terrorism and scare away the foreign investors.
He expressed the hope that political parties would respect the verdict of the people on February 18 and work for full transition of democracy in the country. He said the Election Commission was completely independent and added that every Pakistani should put "Pakistan first" in his priorities.
The President referred to the wrong perception and image of Pakistan in the outside world. He ruled out any possibility of Pakistan's nuclear assets going into the hands of terrorists and said a foolproof system of command and control under the National Command Authority has been put in place.
The national editors who called on the President included Najam Sethi of Daily Times, Arif Nizami of The Nation, Zia Shahid of Khabrain, Sultan Lakhani of Express, Wamiq Zuberi of Business Recorder and Qazi Aslam of Kawish.
Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Nisar A. Memon, Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Syed Anwar Mahmood, Secretary, President's Secretariat Mohsin Hafeez and Media Advisor to the President Major General Rashid Qureshi (Retd) also attended the meeting.