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ISLAMABAD - PRESIDENT Pervez Musharraf must quit if Pakistan is to regain stability in the wake of the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, a think-tank said on Thursday.
Mr Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, is 'no longer, if he ever was, a factor for stability', warned the latest briefing from the International Crisis Group, an independent group that studies global conflict.
'It is time to recognise that democracy, not an artificially propped-up, defrocked, widely despised general has the best chance to provide stability and turn back extremists' gains,' said Robert Templer, ICG's Asia director.
ICG said that in addition to Mr Musharraf's resignation there must be full restoration of Pakistan's constitution and the reappointment of Supreme Court judges he dismissed in November when he imposed emergency rule.
'Bhutto's death has drawn the battle lines even more clearly between Musharraf's military-backed regime and Pakistan's moderate majority, which will settle for nothing less than genuine parliamentary democracy,' said Mark Schneider, ICG's senior vice-president.
The ICG agreed with the decision of Pakistan's Election Commission to postpone the parliamentary polls, but only if extra steps are taken to ensure the delay 'creates conditions for free and fair elections'.
General elections are seen as a crucial next step in the transition to civilian-led democratic rule under Mr Musharraf, who stepped down from his other post as army chief just weeks ago.
But Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the country's largest, alleged the delay is an attempt to give Mr Musharraf's allies time to rig the vote. -- AFP
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