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ISLAMABAD - PAKISTAN'S general election has been delayed until Feb 18 because of unrest sparked by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the chief election commissioner announced on Wednesday.
'In the light of the circumstances, the new date for general elections is 18 February 2008 instead of Jan 8,' chief election commissioner Qazi Mohammad Farooq told a news conference.
'I assure all political parties that the elections will be fair, free and transparent. I appeal to them to accept this decision in the supreme national interest and participate fully.'
Mr Farooq said the unrest that followed Ms Bhutto's assassination on Thursday seriously disrupted preparations for the elections in Pakistan's four provinces.
'It affected printing of ballot papers for four days and created a hindrance of the distribution of ballot papers. Due to these ground realities, supplying papers and voter lists was not possible on Jan 8,' he said.
'There was a suggestion that the general elections should be postponed after the month of Moharram. This suggestion came from the Punjab government,' he added.
The Muslim holy month of Moharram is set to begin on Jan 10 and end on Feb 8, depending on sightings of the moon. It is often blighted by sectarian violence between the Sunni and Shiite communities.
Sharif will participate
A spokesman for former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday that the opposition leader's party would take part in elections after they were delayed until Feb 18.
'Yes, we will certainly participate,' his spokesman Zaeem Qadri told AFP after election officials announced that unrest caused by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto had forced the postponement of the Jan 8 vote.
However the chairman of Mr Sharif's party, Raja Zafar ul-Haq, said that the delay was 'unfair and not reasonable'.
'We believe that it was the responsibility of the election commission to hold the election on time. The election commission has failed to fulfil its responsibility,' he told AFP.
'If we could participate in elections on January 8 we can also participate in elections on February 18,' added the chairman, whose party on Sunday abandoned an election boycott announced after Bhutto's killing.
'But the postponement is unfair and not reasonable. Our central committee will meet and discuss the situation with other parties also on the situation arising out of the delay,' he added. -- AFP
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