Election delay creates new threat for Pakistan

It is interesting to note that Bhutto's husband has not ruled out a deal with Bhutto --even though the party blames Musharraf for the assassination! Even Sharif does not seem consistent. He regularly boycotts the elections and then when Bhutto's party decides to participate he rushes back into the race!
At last I have read one reason why Musharraf might cook the account of Bhutto's death.This bit is from the Washington Post.
"The truth about what happened has serious implications in Pakistan. The ability of a gunman to fire at Bhutto from close range, as alleged by her supporters, would suggest that an assassin was able to breach government security in a city that serves as headquarters of the Pakistani military, bolstering her supporters' claims that the government failed to provide her with adequate protection."

The problem with this explanation is that not even the government disputes that there was a suicide blast right beside her vehicle and that also someone shot at her from close range! Maybe the intelligence service is just practicing to see how good it is at getting a false account accepted!

This article is from the Star (Toronto)
Election delay poses new threat for nation
TheStar.com - World - Election delay poses new threat for nation

January 01, 2008
Bill Schiller
ASIA BUREAU

ISLAMABAD–Pakistan braced itself today for more rioting as the country's election commission was expected to delay next Tuesday's national polls for six weeks.

"We will agitate," warned former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who leads one of two key opposition parties. "We will not accept this postponement."

But with a week to go before the planned poll and sporadic violence still flaring in the aftermath of the assassination of popular opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, the country seems ill-prepared to launch the democratic process.

Last night, Senator Tarik Azeem, spokesperson for the country's most powerful political party – the Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) – told the Star his party is recommending a delay, "but one that is as short as possible."

"We believe that a postponement of short duration is in order," Azeem said. "The length will be determined by the election commission."

Pakistan television, quoting unidentified government sources, said a six-week delay was likely. The poll would probably be held in the third week of February, it said.

Any cancellation now is likely to create a new battleground in a country already wracked by disputes, dissension and Bhutto's death. But the likelihood – and arguably the wisdom – of keeping to the original schedule appears to be waning.

The most powerful party doesn't want it.

European Union election observers are against it.

And the Election Commission has lost scores of official records, including ballot boxes and voters' lists.

"The election commission has lost most of its records including ballot papers when 14 of its offices were burned to the ground in Sindh province," Azeem stressed. "That's very serious."

And, he said, it could provide legitimate grounds for anyone wanting to contest a final outcome.

The EU ambassador and the head of the EU monitoring team emerged from a meeting with the PML-Q yesterday with a clearer understanding of the challenges observers would face in assessing whether the elections are free and fair should they go ahead next week.

"We cannot follow our standard methods if the date stays Jan. 8," Mathias Eick, a spokesperson for the EU mission told reporters.

The EU's assessment of the election, he said, would be hampered by realities on the ground.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, speaking in Mississauga yesterday, said a delay in the Pakistani elections would be acceptable, but only a short one.

"That's justifiable as long as it's delay leading to a fair process, as long as it's not delay leading to suspension ... the democratic process must go ahead just the same, in a timely manner," he said.

He described the situation in Pakistan as "volatile," and said Canada remains concerned.

Rippling beneath the surface of election planning, however, politicians and Pakistani citizens continue to seethe with anger over the Musharraf government's bungling – intentional or otherwise – in its handling of the Bhutto murder investigation.

Its continually changing story of the causes of death and the condition of the body when Bhutto entered hospital has served to undermine its credibility and even heighten suspicion in some camps of government complicity.

The government continues to insist Bhutto died of head injuries and that terrorists were the perpetrators.

Her followers insist she died of gunshot wounds, a contention that seems to be supported by both still photographs and recently released video footage showing a gunman and an apparent suicide bomber in the act.

But the Bhutto family, supporters of the Bhutto-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and international figures continue to call for an independent, international inquiry like the one conducted into the slaying of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

The public's anger has continued to undermine the government of President Pervez Musharraf.

"He is a one-man calamity," former PM Sharif, who leads the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, told reporters.

"The United States should see that Musharraf has not limited or curbed terrorism. In fact, terrorism is now stronger than ever before – with more sinister aspects," he said.

But Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who has taken the reins of the PPP following her death, has not ruled out co-operating with Musharraf should the party emerge victorious in the election.

"We will come to that position when we win the election," he said during a news conference.

Sharif, however, has made it plain: should his party emerge the winner, he will seek to have Musharraf removed from office.

That comes as no surprise: Musharraf removed Sharif when he came to power in a bloodless military coup in 1999.