Pakistan in turmoil
Updated on 01 January 2008
Pakistan's Election Commission has said a general election due on January 8 would be postponed while it consulted political parties about a new date.
The election, meant to complete a transition to civilian rule, has been thrown into question by the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto last Thursday and widespread violence, especially in the south, by her outraged supporters.
Election Commission official Kanwar Dilshad said a new date would be announced on Wednesday. Analysts expect the vote to be postponed to late February but also say a delay could lead to violence.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and the other main opposition party, led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, both say they oppose any delay in the election.
"It is up to the people of Pakistan to choose their future, and the time is now," Sharif and Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, now co-chairman of her party along with their 19-year old son, Bilawal, said in a joint statement.
"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," they said.
"Tomorrow, suppose they postpone elections for 10 days, 15 days or one month and there is another assassination then what will happen?," Asif Ali Zardari said.
"What guarantee is there that once they postpone the elections the situation will be under control?
The other main party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) which supports President Pervez Musharraf, has said it favours a delay because of the security situation.
Opponents say a delay would work to the advantage of the pro-Musharraf party. Musharraf is due to address the nation on Wednesday evening.
Bhutto's assassination has triggered rage against President Pervez Musharraf, casting doubts on Pakistan's stability and the transition to democratic rule in the country, a front-line ally in U.S. anti-terrorism efforts.
'What guarantee is there that once they postpone the elections the situation will be under control?'Asif Ali Zardari
Meanwhile the raging controversy about exactly how Bhutto was killed has virtually eclipsed the question of who was behind the attack.
Despite mounting disbelief, Pakistan's government stuck to its position today that Benazir Bhutto was killed when she cracked her skull on the lever on a sunroof of her car during a gun and bomb attack.
Just over 24 hours after Bhutto's death the Interior Ministry said three shots had been fired moments before a suicide bomber struck but neither bullets nor blast fragments had killed her.
The ministry's spokesman said that Bhutto had been killed when she ducked, the explosion forced her head against a lever jutting from the sunroof, and the blow fractured her skull.
Caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the government was not changing its stance.
The opposition leader's party believe she was shot, and most Pakistanis agree.
There was video footage which surfaced on Monday showing a clean-cut young man firing a pistol at Bhutto from a distance of about 10 feet (3 metres), her white shawl appearing to move, perhaps as a bullet struck, and her dropping back into the armoured vehicle.
But doctors who examined Bhutto said no bullet or shrapnel showed up on an X-ray. The single wound on her head did not look like a bullet wound but appeared to indicate a forceful blow by some heavy object, one said.
Doctors released an inconclusive report saying the cause of death was "an open head injury with depressed skull fracture, leading to cardiopulmonary arrest".
But senior hospital source said the doctors had been under intense pressure from all sides over the cause of death.
No autopsy had been performed, at the request of her family, the government said.
Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, confirmed that, saying an autopsy had not been necessary when the cause of death was so obviously a bullet. He also expressed scepticism about how an autopsy would have been done.
Bhutto's party has called for a U.N. investigation into her assassination but the government has said Pakistani investigators were capable of conducting the inquiry. A four-member Pakistani police team and a separate judicial team are investigating.
