[NYTr] Pakistan's Election Raincheck

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Channel 4 News - Snowmail (UK) - Jan 2, 2008
http://www.channel4.com


Pakistan's election raincheck

Pakistan's elections have been pushed back to mid-February. However
common sensical that decision may seem from the outside, the key
parties have criticised it.

President Musharaf has just appeared on TV saying the vote will be free
and fair - and to get to the bottom (and dispel any myths) of who
killed Benazir Bhutto, he's asked Gordon Brown to send a team from New
Scotland Yard.


Channel 4 News  Jan 1, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/2lv5ke

Pakistan in turmoil

By Channel 4 News

Pakistan's Election Commission has said a general election due on
January 8 would be postponed while it consulted political parties about
a new date.

The election, meant to complete a transition to civilian rule, has been
thrown into question by the assassination of opposition leader Benazir
Bhutto last Thursday and widespread violence, especially in the south,
by her outraged supporters.

Election Commission official Kanwar Dilshad said a new date would be
announced on Wednesday. Analysts expect the vote to be postponed to
late February but also say a delay could lead to violence.

Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and the other main opposition party,
led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, both say they oppose any
delay in the election. "It is up to the people of Pakistan to choose
their future, and the time is now," Sharif and Bhutto's husband, Asif
Ali Zardari, now co-chairman of her party along with their 19-year old
son, Bilawal, said in a joint statement.

"The January 8th elections must proceed as scheduled. This will not
only be a tribute to the memory of Benazir Bhutto, but even more
important, a reaffirmation of the cause of democracy for which she
died," they said.

"Tomorrow, suppose they postpone elections for 10 days, 15 days or one
month and there is another assassination then what will happen?," Asif
Ali Zardari said.

"What guarantee is there that once they postpone the elections the
situation will be under control?

The other main party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) which supports
President Pervez Musharraf, has said it favours a delay because of the
security situation.

Opponents say a delay would work to the advantage of the pro-Musharraf
party. Musharraf is due to address the nation on Wednesday evening.

Bhutto's assassination has triggered rage against President Pervez
Musharraf, casting doubts on Pakistan's stability and the transition to
democratic rule in the country, a front-line ally in U.S.
anti-terrorism efforts.


Meanwhile the raging controversy about exactly how Bhutto was killed
has virtually eclipsed the question of who was behind the attack.

Despite mounting disbelief, Pakistan's government stuck to its position
today that Benazir Bhutto was killed when she cracked her skull on the
lever on a sunroof of her car during a gun and bomb attack.

Just over 24 hours after Bhutto's death the Interior Ministry said
three shots had been fired moments before a suicide bomber struck but
neither bullets nor blast fragments had killed her.

The ministry's spokesman said that Bhutto had been killed when she
ducked, the explosion forced her head against a lever jutting from the
sunroof, and the blow fractured her skull.

Caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the government was not
changing its stance.

The opposition leader's party believe she was shot, and most Pakistanis
agree.

There was video footage which surfaced on Monday showing a clean-cut
young man firing a pistol at Bhutto from a distance of about 10 feet (3
metres), her white shawl appearing to move, perhaps as a bullet struck,
and her dropping back into the armoured vehicle.

But doctors who examined Bhutto said no bullet or shrapnel showed up on
an X-ray. The single wound on her head did not look like a bullet wound
but appeared to indicate a forceful blow by some heavy object, one said.

Doctors released an inconclusive report saying the cause of death was
"an open head injury with depressed skull fracture, leading to
cardiopulmonary arrest".

But senior hospital source said the doctors had been under intense
pressure from all sides over the cause of death.

No autopsy had been performed, at the request of her family, the
government said.

Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, confirmed that, saying an autopsy
had not been necessary when the cause of death was so obviously a
bullet. He also expressed scepticism about how an autopsy would have
been done.

Bhutto's party has called for a U.N. investigation into her
assassination but the government has said Pakistani investigators were
capable of conducting the inquiry. A four-member Pakistani police team
and a separate judicial team are investigating.