PPP rejects delay in elections

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Source: CCTV.com | 01-02-2008 13:32

In Pakistan, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's husband is rejecting the election commission's proposal to delay the general elections scheduled for next Tuesday.

Asif Ali Zardari, husband of slain Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto prays for his wife at his house, on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008.  (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)

PPP's new leader has called for the commission to hold elections as scheduled.

Zardari said it is up to the people of Pakistan to decide their country's future, and the elections mustn't be delayed.

He said a timely election will consolidate the process of democracy in the country.

Asif Ali Zardari, Leader of Pakistan People's Party, said, "Elections should not be postponed. We feel this is a way to vent the anger of the people if, Inshallah, the People's Party wins and we manage to make government, at least 30 percent of the people would have been met. This is a way to, one, cure the negative energy which has evolved because of this great loss, and two, do something non-negative as such."

Zardari also said former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-N, was against the postponement.

Earlier, the election commission said political parties will be consulted before deciding whether to delay parliamentary elections scheduled for January 8th. The final decision and the date will be announced on Wednesday.

Electoral Commission spokesman Kanwar Dilshad, center, talks to the media in front of the electoral commission building in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday Jan. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Kanwar Dilshad, Spokesman of Pakistan Election Commission, said, "Election commission of Pakistan has decided that, in the first instance, the political parties may be consulted. So after the consultation with the political parties, the date of the poll will be decided."

The elections are meant to complete Pakistan's transition to civilian rule. But Bhutto's assassination on Thursday has thrown the whole process in doubt.

Zardari said if his party wins the election, it will reverse some of President Pervez Musharraf's laws and policies, which Bhutto had condemned.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei