ISLAMABAD -- Amid continuing political turmoil, Pakistan's government appears set to postpone crucial national parliamentary elections originally scheduled for next week -- raising fears of a violent reaction from the supporters of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
A Pakistani election official said Tuesday "it looks impossible" for the country to hold elections as scheduled on Jan. 8 in the wake of the violence that followed the assassination of Ms. Bhutto on Dec. 27. However, a final decision would not be made until Wednesday, after the commission consulted all the political parties, commission spokesman Kanwar Dilshad said.
Despite strong international pressure to hold the poll as scheduled, Mr. Dilshad said that the reports from provincial governments and election commissioners indicate that "the law and order situation is not conducive for the elections to be held on Jan. 8."
Ms. Bhutto's killing in a suicide attack has fueled intense antigovernment sentiment against President Pervez Musharraf. He has blamed Islamic radicals allegedly linked to al Qaeda for the assassination, but Ms. Bhutto's supporters charge Mr. Musharraf's government bears responsibility for not adequately protecting the opposition leader. Some allege that elements in the Musharraf camp may have had a hand in the attack.
The resulting crisis has increased anxiety domestically and internationally about the stability of the nuclear-armed Muslim nation.
Tuesday's announcement is the second postponement of an election-date decision. On Monday, Mr. Dilshad told reporters that a formal decision on the timing of the parliamentary polls would be announced the following day, but he added that the commission had sent a recommendation "to the government for a delay." The polls are now expected to be held in the first week of March, according to government officials who declined to be named.
The move evoked a strong reaction from the opposition Pakistan Peoples' Party, or PPP, formerly headed by Ms. Bhutto, a two-time former prime minister. "We will not accept the delay in the polls even for one day," said Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for the party. He warned the delay would fuel further violence. "We will resist any attempt to postpone the elections."
Despite being in mourning, Ms. Bhutto's party -- now headed by her husband and her son -- and other major opposition groups want the polls held on its scheduled Jan. 8 date, perhaps sensing major electoral gains are possible amid sympathy over Ms. Bhutto's death and accusations by some PPP leaders that political allies of President Musharraf were behind the killing.
The government has rejected the charges.
Pakistan's most powerful political force, the PPP on Sunday decided to participate in the elections despite the loss of its charismatic leader that has triggered political unrest in the country. It also chose Ms. Bhutto's 19-year-old son, Bilawal, to succeed his mother as the party's chairman. "We will go for elections, according to her (Ms. Bhutto's) will and thinking," said Asif Ali Zardari, Ms Bhutto's husband who was chosen as the PPP's co-chairman Sunday.
Another opposition party -- the Pakistan Muslim League (N) faction led by another former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif -- has warned of serious repercussions if the elections were delayed. "No one among us wants elections to go beyond Jan. 8," Mr. Sharif told a news conference Monday in Lahore. "Musharraf is trying to wriggle out of elections sensing defeat of his allies."
The latest round of political instability prompted by Ms. Bhutto's assassination has had a damaging impact on Pakistan's $145 billion economy. A promising investment story less than a year ago, Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in Washington's so-called war on terrorism, is now gripped by fears of capital flight with a worsening security situation.
Shares on the Karachi Stock Exchange fell Tuesday on election-delay concerns for a second day. In midday trade, the KSE-100 was down 4.1% at 13502.59, off an early high of 14037.77. On Monday, the Karachi Stock Market saw one of its biggest daily declines ever as panic selling drove the KSM index down 4.7% to close at 14077 on the first trading day since Ms. Bhutto's assassination. Analysts said the fall reflected unrest in the country.
The Pakistani rupee also fell against dollar Monday, hitting a six-year low against the U.S. currency.
"The events in the aftermath of the Ms. Bhutto's assassination have caused the down slide," said Muddasir Malik, a director at Karachi-based BMA Capital, a brokerage house.
Analysts said the delay in the elections could worsen civil unrest, particularly in the southern Sindh province, which is a stronghold of Ms. Bhutto's party.
"The delay in the elections will have a disastrous consequence for the country," contended Nasim Zehra, a leading political analyst and a former visiting fellow at Harvard University.
After days of rioting that left at least 44 dead since Ms. Bhutto's death, life in many Pakistani cities began returning to normal Monday, although soldiers and police patrolled many areas. Sporadic violence flared, however, with protesters firing into the air in the southern city of Hyderabad, burning vehicles and throwing stones at police and shops. But streets were relatively quiet in the commercial capital of Karachi, the scene of some of the worst violence last week.
Some analysts said a delay in polls would likely provoke criticism from the U.S. and other Western countries. The elections are seen as a key step in the country's transition to democracy and civilian rule after eight years of authoritarian rule under Mr. Musharraf, who came to power in a military coup in 1999.
1 Январь 2008 г.
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