Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairperson Benazir Bhutto said
Tuesday that her party will possibly boycott the upcoming general
elections, local media reported.
Pakistan's opposition
leader Benazir Bhutto (C) speaks along with other party leaders
during a news conference in Lahore Nov. 11, 2007.
Bhutto made the remarks in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore
during a telephone interview with a group of reporters.
She also urged Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf to resign
and ruled out the possibility of serving under Musharraf in the
future government.
"It seems unlikely that the People's Party will participate in
the upcoming elections," she said.
Bhutto said that she would seek to build an alliance to restore
democracy with other opposition leaders, including former Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The chairperson was staying at the PPP leader Latif Khosa's
residence in Lahore before a planned march to protest against the
state of emergency in the country, the suspension of the
constitution, the detention of judges and arrests of lawyers and
political workers.
According to local media reports, police officials arrived at
the Khosa house early Tuesday with detention orders for Bhutto, who
would be confined under house arrest for seven days to prevent her
from leading a long march of over 300 km from Lahore to the capital
of Islamabad.
Musharraf declared a state of emergency in the country and
issued a provisional constitutional order on Nov. 3. On Nov. 11, he
also announced that general elections including the national
assembly and the provincial assemblies would be held simultaneously
before Jan. 9.
But Bhutto said that fair, free and transparent elections were
not possible under the state of emergency.
The Commonwealth on Monday gave Pakistan a 10-day deadline to
restore its constitution and lift other emergency measures or face
suspension of its membership in the 53-nation bloc.
Pakistan's foreign ministry responded on Tuesday that the
country strongly rejected the deadline and expressed "deep
disappointment and regret" over the ultimatum.
(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2007)
