Pakistani National Election : Is it the End of Dictatorship
At a press conference on Tuesday, Ms Bhutto’s widower and the PPP leader, Asif Ali Zardari, said his party would “form a government of national consensus which will take along every democratic force”.
“For now, the decision of the party is that we are not interested in any of those people who are part and parcel of the last government,” he said, seemingly ruling out any coalition with the Pakistan Muslim League’s pro-
The PPP has won 87 seats so far, according to the website of private TV network, Geo.
The PML-N, or Pakistani Muslim League-Nawaz, which is led by another former PM, Nawaz Sharif, is in second place with 66 seats so far.
Mr Sharif said earlier on Tuesday that he was prepared to discuss joining a coalition with Mr Zardari’s party in order “to rid Pakistan of dictatorship forever”.
The two parties so far have a combined total of 153 seats in the 272-seat parliament.
President Pervez Musharraf main parliamentary ally, the PML-Q, has already admitted defeat.
The party has come a distant third, with 38 seats so far.
PML-Q chairman, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, told Associated Press Television News his party accepted the results “with an open heart” and was prepared to “sit on opposition benches”.
Mr Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, stepped down as army chief last year, at the urging of his foreign allies.
The parliamentary election has been seen as a key milestone in Pakistan’s transition from military to civilian rule.
The election was preceded by months of violence, including the suicide attack that killed PPP leader, Ms Bhutto, in December.
The poll was initially scheduled for early January but was delayed after her assassination.
Pakistan’s military has been trying to contain a Taleban-influenced Islamist insurgency along the country’s rugged frontier with Afghanistan.
The US State Department described Monday’s election as a “step toward the full restoration of democracy”.
Source: BBC
