Bhutto demands polls under independent caretaker govt
New York (PTI): Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Monday asked President Pervez Musharraf to lift the emergency, revive the Constitution and hold elections under an "independent caretaker government".
Reminding Musharraf of his commitments, both public and private, to confidence building measures that would move Pakistan forward in the transition to democracy, she said that he (Musharraf) has imposed martial law at a time when he should be demonstrating to the country and the world his seriousness in all owing free and fair elections.
Stating that rise of extremism and militancy could not happen without support from elements within the administration, Bhutto asked Musharraf to revive the Constitution by lifting emergency.
"This can only be seen as a step to entrench his dictatorship," the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) president wrote in a commentary for CNN.
She asked Musharraf to facilitate operation of a rigorous election monitoring mechanism -- both domestic and international -- that can guarantee the sanctity of the ballot and allow election experts to conduct exit polls to ensure that the counting reflects the voting.
"We must have elections under an independent caretaker government, and neutral administrative officials who have the confidence of all major political parties in the country. And these elections should be under the supervision of an autonomous and competent Election Commission," she added.
The ruling party, Bhutto said, is an artificial political party created in the headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence during the elections of 2002.
"Its core support comes from the political partners of the military dictator of the '80s, General Zia ul-Haq, who empowered the most radical elements within the Afghan Mujahedeen who went on to morph into al-Qaeda, Taliban and the Pakistani militants of today," Bhutto said.
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