ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Parliamentary elections in Pakistan are set to be postponed by several weeks despite opposition demands they go ahead as planned on Jan. 8, officials said Monday, setting up a new political standoff after Benazir Bhutto's assassination.

Opposition parties wavered Wednesday on whether to boycott crucial Pakistani elections, backing off their most strident calls to shun the vote unless President Gen. Pervez Musharraf ends his state of emergency.

By Jane Perlez and David Rohde In a defiant news