Pakistan election in doubt

DELAY URGED: Assassination and country-wide chaos has thrown scheduled election into doubt. (AFP)

Uncertainty surrounds Pakistan’s parliamentary election on January 8 following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, with some officials calling for a delay of up to four months.

Bhutto was killed on Thursday after addressing a campaign rally in Rawalpindi. A suicide bomber fired shots at the former prime minister before blowing himself up, killing at least 20 other people.

Despite international pressure to proceed with elections as planned, representatives of president Pervez Musharraf’s ruling party on Sunday announced plans to suspend its campaign and called for the election to be delayed.

“How long the postponement will be for will be up to the Election Commission,” Tariq Azim, spokesperson for the Pakistan Muslim League, told newswire AP.

“I think we are looking at a delay of a few weeks... of up to three or four months.”

Azim said holding elections as scheduled would risk the credibility of the outcome, with Bhutto’s supporters still in mourning and other parties threatening to boycott the election altogether.

Pakistan's Electoral Commission has convened an urgent meeting for Monday and hinted on Saturday it may delay the vote as the circumstances of Bhutto's death and ensuing unrest had "adversely affected" conditions.

The US, which considers Pakistan a key ally in the region, has urged elections to be held as planned to ensure the swift return of stability in the troubled nation, saying the vote is important for the restoration of the democratic process.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party said on Sunday it would abandon plans to boycott the election following news that Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) will take part.

Sharif said on Thursday his party would boycott the election following Bhutto's assassination.

"It is likely that the party will take part...," said Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

"If they don't mind contesting elections after Benazir Bhutto's assassination, then there is no point in our
boycotting general elections."

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