President Gen. Pervez Musharraf will step down as army chief and restore civilian rule to Pakistan, but only after he secures re-election as president, a government lawyer said Tuesday.

The party of exiled opposition leader Benazir Bhutto declared the plan unconstitutional and undemocratic, and threatened that its lawmakers would consider resigning from Parliament unless “steps for national reconciliation” are taken.

Monday’s announcement by government attorney Sharifuddin Pirzada was the first clear official statement that Musharraf is ready to end direct military rule, eight years after he seized power in a bloodless coup.

Musharraf plans to win a new five-year term in a vote by all federal and provincial lawmakers due by Oct. 15, a month before the end of his current term.

However, his authority has waned in recent months after a failed attempt to sack the Supreme Court’s top judge, and the opposition insists that the U.S.-allied general is ineligible to continue as head of state.

He also faces a wave of violence blamed on Taliban and al-Qaida militants that has intensified popular discontent with his alliance with Washington.

Pirzada announced Musharraf’s intentions in the Supreme Court as judges heard petitions challenging his dual role as president and army chief and his eligibility for the presidential vote.

“If elected for the second term as president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf shall relinquish charge of the office of the chief of army staff soon after election, but before taking the oath of office of the president of Pakistan for the next term,” Pirzada said.

However, opposition parties quickly denounced the move.

“Gen. Musharraf’s decision to get himself re-elected in uniform is both unconstitutional and undemocratic,” said Sherry Rehman, a spokeswoman for Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party.

Bhutto has been in talks with Musharraf that could lead to them sharing power after parliamentary elections due by January.

The talks have snagged on Bhutto’s demands for a list of concessions she says are essential in order to restore democracy, including dropping corruption cases against herself and other politicians and letting her run for a third term as prime minister.

“If these steps for national reconciliation are not taken, the Pakistan People’s Party will consider resigning from the Parliament,” Rehman said.