Holding on

hi,
can I omit the "on" part in this sentence and just keep the word "holding", will the sentence retains the same meaning?

here is the sentence...president pervez musharraf is "holding on" to the power he snatched in a 1999 coup because pakistan is still not ready for democracy, he said yesterday.

thank you for your help.

Leave it as is. "Holding on" is clear.

LOL, OK I will leave it, but I just need to know if it makes any difference.