Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president, appears to have backed away from declaring a state of emergency after mixed reports that he would opt for authoritarian rule. Local television channels and newspapers reported on Thursday that the declaration was imminent but Pakistan's information minister denied that any such decision had been made. Mohammad Ali Durrani said: "In the president's view, there is no need at present to impose an emergency. The president was under pressure from different political parties to impose an emergency, but he believes in holding free and fair election and is not in favour of any step that hinders it."Opposition parties say issuing an emergency decree would be drastic and retrogressive.