ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistan’s military ruler said he will not declare a state of emergency or delay elections amid a growing crisis over his removal of the Supreme Court’s independent-minded chief justice.

In a television interview broadcast late Monday, President General Pervez Musharraf defended his suspension of the justice on March 9 over unspecified allegations that the judge had abused his authority.

Critics claim Mr. Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup and serves as both army chief and president, sought to remove Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections because legal challenges to his rule could have been brought to the Supreme Court.

The government denies his suspension was politically motivated.

The move has angered lawyers and opposition political groups and prompted six judges to resign in protest.

Mr. Musharraf told Pakistan’s Geo TV he has handed Chaudhry evidence of complaints the government has received against him. He said in taking Chaudhry’s case to a judicial complaints council, the government has followed “all norms of justice.”

But Mr. Musharraf condemned a police crackdown against protesters, acknowledging the government had mishandled the situation.

The Supreme Judicial Council, a panel of top judges that handles complaints of wrongdoing in the higher judiciary, can either confirm or throw out the alleged complaints against Chaudhry.

The council is scheduled to resume hearing Chaudhry’s case on Wednesday. Lawyers have announced they will stage more countrywide protests that day.

“(The) Supreme Judicial Council will do justice. We don’t want anything from them other than justice and I am sure they will do that,” Mr. Musharraf said.

Mr. Musharraf said he is committed to hold “fair, transparent” elections after the current Parliament completes its term later this year, and will not declare an emergency or postpone the vote.

“We will go forward on the course, which is elections this year when the five-year tenure of assemblies is completed. I am firmly resolved to do that and I will do it,” he said.

Mr. Musharraf is likely to seek approval for another term as head of state from the outgoing Parliament under provisions of the constitution amended in 2003 that enables him to be president as well as army chief.

“I will follow the constitution. It is enough for the nation to know that we will follow the constitution,” Musharraf said when asked about his future as army chief.

In 2002, Mr. Musharraf held parliamentary elections. The same year he won support to be the head of state in a referendum in which he was the only candidate. In 2004, Parliament endorsed him as president.

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Associated Press writer Afzal Nadeem in Karachi contributed to this report.