The husband of former premier Benazir Bhutto on Sunday rejected President General Pervez Musharraf’s pledge to hold general elections by January 9 as a stalling tactic. Asif Ali Zardari said Musharraf made the announcement to deflect pressure mounting over his decision to impose a state of emergency, rather than an attempt to solve the political crisis gripping the nation. “Musharraf’s pledge is nothing more than a tactic to gain time and deflect domestic and international pressure on him to lift the emergency and restore the Constitution,” he told AFP via telephone from Dubai. Zardari said free and fair elections were “inconceivable under emergency rule imposed by Musharraf which was in fact martial law.” Zardari also demanded military ruler Musharraf quit his army post.