Pakistan poll set to be delayed
Election commission says holding the vote on January 8 would be “impossible”.
Offices burnt
“We will inform the political parties about the situation in Sindh where our 13 offices were burnt. We will inform them about the ground realities and then we will fix a date in consultation with them,” Dilshad said.
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Earlier, the AFP news agency quoted an election official as saying that the polls would be delayed until February to give officials more time to prepare after the unrest that followed Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on Thursday.
“It is up to the people of Pakistan to choose their future, and the time is now,” it said.
“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.”
Sharif’s party had previously said that a “short postponement” would be acceptable.
Rigging allegations
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Khosa, who along with Bhutto authored the 160-page dossier documenting alleged rigging tactics, said they ranged from intimidation to fake ballots, and were in some cases unwittingly funded by US aid.
“The state agencies are manipulating the whole process,” he said.
However, a spokesman for Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s president, dismissed the claim as “ridiculous”.
“It makes one laugh,” Rashid Qureshi said.
“Take it from me, it’s going to be perhaps the best election that Pakistan has ever had.”