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Dr. Jai Maharaj
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Pakistan's opposition deals crushing blow to Musharraf allies
Pakistan opposition heads toward victory
By Matthew Pennington, Associated Press Writer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Monday, February 18, 2008
Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan's opposition dealt a
crushing blow to allies of President Pervez Musharraf in
parliamentary elections, threatening the rule of America's
close ally in the war on terror, according to unofficial
results cited by a private TV network Tuesday.
The party of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was
in the lead in Monday's parliamentary vote, with ex-premier
Nawaz Sharif -- who was toppled in Musharraf's 1999 coup
and has emerged as his fiercest critic -- running a close
second.
The private Geo TV network said the two parties had so far
won 139 seats, more than half of the 272-seat National
Assembly.
The pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q party was
trailing a distant third with 33 seats. A ream of party
stalwarts and former Cabinet ministers lost in their
constituencies.
"All the King's men, gone!" proclaimed a banner headline in
the Daily Times. "Heavyweights knocked out," read Dawn
newspaper.
Final results were not expected before Tuesday evening, but
the outcome appeared to be a stinging public verdict on
Musharraf, whose popularity plummeted following decisions
late last year to impose emergency rule, purge the
judiciary, jail political opponents and curtail press
freedoms.
With the support of smaller groups and independent
candidates, the opposition could gain a two-thirds majority
in parliament needed to impeach the president, who also
angered many Pakistanis by allying the country with
Washington to fight al-Qaida and the Taliban after the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The PML-Q said it accepted the results, but party president
Pervaiz Elahi stopped short of conceding defeat before the
returns were more complete.
"We happily accept the verdict of the people," Elahi, the
outgoing chief minister of Punjab province, told Geo TV on
Tuesday.
"If our opponents had faced the same situation at a time
when 60 per cent of the results are still to come, they
might have started talking about rigging, and we are not
doing it ... We have been sitting on opposition benches in
the past, and we can do it now as well."
He said the PML-Q had elected Musharraf for five years. "We
respect him, and we are still with him," he said.
Sharif has been outspoken in demanding that Musharraf be
removed and that Supreme Court justices whom the president
sacked late last year be returned to their posts.
The spokesman for Sharif's party, Saqiq ul-Farooq told
reporters Tuesday that Musharraf "should go." But he added
that if the restored justices validate Musharraf's October
election to a new term, the opposition would accept the
decision.
"We want to put Pakistan back on the track of democracy,
constitution and rule of law, and the restoration of sacked
judges is must to achieve this goal," he said.
Although fear and apathy kept millions of voters at home
Monday, the elections for national and provincial
assemblies were a major step toward democracy in Pakistan,
which has been under military for the past eight years
under Musharraf and for over half of its 60-year history.
A win by the opposition is likely to restore the public's
faith in the political process and quell fears that the
results would be rigged in favor of the pro-Musharraf
forces.
Islamic militant violence scarred the campaign, most
notably Bhutto's Dec. 27 assassination, but Monday's
balloting was spared such an attack. The government,
however, confirmed 24 election-related deaths in clashes
between political parties.
About 18 hours after vote-counting began, Geo TV said
unofficial tallies from 229 of the 268 National Assembly
seats being contested showed Bhutto's Pakistan People's
Party with 33.1 percent and Sharif's Pakistan Muslim
League-N party with 27.5 percent. The pro-Musharraf PML-Q
was third with 14.4 percent.
Contests in four assembly seats have been delayed for
various reasons, including the death of candidates during
the campaign.
The Election Commission had results for 124 seats, with
Sharif's party holding 30 percent, Bhutto's party holding
26.6 percent and the PML-Q with 12.1 percent.
Several close political allies of Musharraf were election
casualties. The chairman of the ruling party, the foreign
minister and railways minister were among those who lost
seats in Punjab, the most populous province and a key
electoral battleground.
Musharraf, who was not on the ballot, has said a strong,
democratically elected government is needed to fight a rise
in Islamic militancy, and the retired army general pledged
Monday to work with the new government regardless of which
party wins.
"I will give them full cooperation as president, whatever
is my role," he said.
Religious parties also fared badly, and were set to lose
their control of the North West Frontier Province gained in
the last parliamentary elections in 2002 when they
benefited from Pakistani anger over the U.S.-led invasion
to topple the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The U.S. government, Musharraf's strongest international
backer, was anxious for a credible election to shore up
democratic forces at a time of mounting concern over
political unrest in this nuclear-armed nation and a growing
al-Qaida and Taliban presence in the northwest.
"Every single vote must be counted fairly, and the numbers
must be transmitted so decisions can be made," said Rep.
Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat who was one of several
American lawmakers monitoring the election.
Lee said that an "effective government for the people of
Pakistan" was America's "great concern."
Despite the stakes, it appeared most of the country's 81
million voters stayed home -- either out of fear of
extremist attacks or lack of enthusiasm for the candidates,
many of whom waged lackluster campaigns.
Sarwar Bari of the nonprofit Free and Fair Elections
Network said reports from his group's 20,000 election
observers indicated voter turnout was about 35 percent.
That would be the same as in the 1997 election -- the
lowest in Pakistan's history.
Bhutto's party had hoped to ride a public wave of sympathy
after the former prime minister was killed in a gun and
suicide bomb attack but it appeared Sharif's tougher line
against Musharraf also struck a chord with voters.
Bhutto had negotiated with Musharraf before she returned
from exile in October, and her widowed husband Asif Ali
Zardari, who now leads her Pakistan Peoples Party, has left
open the possibility of working with the president.
- - -
Associated Press writers Stephen Graham in Lahore, Zarar
Khan in Nawab Shah and Robin McDowell, Sadaqat Jan and
Munir Ahmad in Islamabad contributed to this report.
More at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_election
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/24fq83
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
DISCLAIMER AND CONDITIONS
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Pakistan opposition heads toward victory
By Matthew Pennington, Associated Press Writer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Monday, February 18, 2008
Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan's opposition dealt a
crushing blow to allies of President Pervez Musharraf in
parliamentary elections, threatening the rule of America's
close ally in the war on terror, according to unofficial
results cited by a private TV network Tuesday.
The party of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was
in the lead in Monday's parliamentary vote, with ex-premier
Nawaz Sharif -- who was toppled in Musharraf's 1999 coup
and has emerged as his fiercest critic -- running a close
second.
The private Geo TV network said the two parties had so far
won 139 seats, more than half of the 272-seat National
Assembly.
The pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q party was
trailing a distant third with 33 seats. A ream of party
stalwarts and former Cabinet ministers lost in their
constituencies.
"All the King's men, gone!" proclaimed a banner headline in
the Daily Times. "Heavyweights knocked out," read Dawn
newspaper.
Final results were not expected before Tuesday evening, but
the outcome appeared to be a stinging public verdict on
Musharraf, whose popularity plummeted following decisions
late last year to impose emergency rule, purge the
judiciary, jail political opponents and curtail press
freedoms.
With the support of smaller groups and independent
candidates, the opposition could gain a two-thirds majority
in parliament needed to impeach the president, who also
angered many Pakistanis by allying the country with
Washington to fight al-Qaida and the Taliban after the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The PML-Q said it accepted the results, but party president
Pervaiz Elahi stopped short of conceding defeat before the
returns were more complete.
"We happily accept the verdict of the people," Elahi, the
outgoing chief minister of Punjab province, told Geo TV on
Tuesday.
"If our opponents had faced the same situation at a time
when 60 per cent of the results are still to come, they
might have started talking about rigging, and we are not
doing it ... We have been sitting on opposition benches in
the past, and we can do it now as well."
He said the PML-Q had elected Musharraf for five years. "We
respect him, and we are still with him," he said.
Sharif has been outspoken in demanding that Musharraf be
removed and that Supreme Court justices whom the president
sacked late last year be returned to their posts.
The spokesman for Sharif's party, Saqiq ul-Farooq told
reporters Tuesday that Musharraf "should go." But he added
that if the restored justices validate Musharraf's October
election to a new term, the opposition would accept the
decision.
"We want to put Pakistan back on the track of democracy,
constitution and rule of law, and the restoration of sacked
judges is must to achieve this goal," he said.
Although fear and apathy kept millions of voters at home
Monday, the elections for national and provincial
assemblies were a major step toward democracy in Pakistan,
which has been under military for the past eight years
under Musharraf and for over half of its 60-year history.
A win by the opposition is likely to restore the public's
faith in the political process and quell fears that the
results would be rigged in favor of the pro-Musharraf
forces.
Islamic militant violence scarred the campaign, most
notably Bhutto's Dec. 27 assassination, but Monday's
balloting was spared such an attack. The government,
however, confirmed 24 election-related deaths in clashes
between political parties.
About 18 hours after vote-counting began, Geo TV said
unofficial tallies from 229 of the 268 National Assembly
seats being contested showed Bhutto's Pakistan People's
Party with 33.1 percent and Sharif's Pakistan Muslim
League-N party with 27.5 percent. The pro-Musharraf PML-Q
was third with 14.4 percent.
Contests in four assembly seats have been delayed for
various reasons, including the death of candidates during
the campaign.
The Election Commission had results for 124 seats, with
Sharif's party holding 30 percent, Bhutto's party holding
26.6 percent and the PML-Q with 12.1 percent.
Several close political allies of Musharraf were election
casualties. The chairman of the ruling party, the foreign
minister and railways minister were among those who lost
seats in Punjab, the most populous province and a key
electoral battleground.
Musharraf, who was not on the ballot, has said a strong,
democratically elected government is needed to fight a rise
in Islamic militancy, and the retired army general pledged
Monday to work with the new government regardless of which
party wins.
"I will give them full cooperation as president, whatever
is my role," he said.
Religious parties also fared badly, and were set to lose
their control of the North West Frontier Province gained in
the last parliamentary elections in 2002 when they
benefited from Pakistani anger over the U.S.-led invasion
to topple the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The U.S. government, Musharraf's strongest international
backer, was anxious for a credible election to shore up
democratic forces at a time of mounting concern over
political unrest in this nuclear-armed nation and a growing
al-Qaida and Taliban presence in the northwest.
"Every single vote must be counted fairly, and the numbers
must be transmitted so decisions can be made," said Rep.
Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat who was one of several
American lawmakers monitoring the election.
Lee said that an "effective government for the people of
Pakistan" was America's "great concern."
Despite the stakes, it appeared most of the country's 81
million voters stayed home -- either out of fear of
extremist attacks or lack of enthusiasm for the candidates,
many of whom waged lackluster campaigns.
Sarwar Bari of the nonprofit Free and Fair Elections
Network said reports from his group's 20,000 election
observers indicated voter turnout was about 35 percent.
That would be the same as in the 1997 election -- the
lowest in Pakistan's history.
Bhutto's party had hoped to ride a public wave of sympathy
after the former prime minister was killed in a gun and
suicide bomb attack but it appeared Sharif's tougher line
against Musharraf also struck a chord with voters.
Bhutto had negotiated with Musharraf before she returned
from exile in October, and her widowed husband Asif Ali
Zardari, who now leads her Pakistan Peoples Party, has left
open the possibility of working with the president.
- - -
Associated Press writers Stephen Graham in Lahore, Zarar
Khan in Nawab Shah and Robin McDowell, Sadaqat Jan and
Munir Ahmad in Islamabad contributed to this report.
More at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_election
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/24fq83
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
DISCLAIMER AND CONDITIONS
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
