Joined: 20 May 2007 Posts: 2087 Location: victoria
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 1:31 am Post subject:
President Musharraf dealt crushing election defeat in Pakistan
General Musharraf has conceded defeat today
President Pervez Musharraf's party today conceded defeat after opposition parties routed his government in the Pakistani elections.
The Pakistan Peoples Party, the party of the late Benazir Bhutto, and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N inflicted a heavy defeat on Musharraf's PML-Q.
Sharif has called for Musharraf to resign in the wake of his party's defeat. Almost all leading figures in Musharraf's party lost their seats in the election, including the leader of the party, the former speaker of Parliament and six ministers.
The two challengers pushed the incumbent regime into a distant third place in the race for seats in the National Assembly. It means Mr Musharraf, who seized power in a military coup in 1999, faces impeachment and imprisonment unless he flees the country.
Out of the 272 assembly seats, 268 were up for grabs. Of the 229 declared seats this morning, PPP claimed 76, PML-N took 63, and PML-Q 33.
Fears of widespread vote-rigging and violence at polling booths failed to materialise yesterday. Officials said 19 people were killed in shootouts, but there were no suicide bomb attacks - the threat of which was believed to be responsible for a turnout of less than 40 per cent.
Ahsan Zia, political commentator from Daily Waqt newspaper, said: "It is the worst possible result for Musharraf.
Fatima Bhutto, the estranged niece of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, casts her vote in the election
"Nawaz Sharif took an oath to restore the judiciary and impeach Musharraf before the elections. Musharraf is living on borrowed time. He could be gone within months.
"He has little support among the public. It is not just opposition to his foreign policy. The economy has been mismanaged, inflation has rocketed and
there are shortages of basic foodstuffs."
The president, who stepped down as army chief in November, vowed to accept the "voice of the nation" before the elections. He had hoped last-minute horse-trading would lead to a deal with the PPP and see him staying on as a "father figure" to the new prime minister.
But the strong showing for Mr Sharif's party despite a sympathy vote for the PPP, led by Asif Ali Zardari - widower of Mrs Bhutto who was assassinated in a suicide attack in December - appears to have dashed those hopes.
Mr Musharraf and Mr Sharif have been implacable enemies since the president ousted his rival as the country's democratically elected prime minister and forced the Supreme Court to convict him on trumped-up charges.
Deeply unpopular and seen as George Bush's puppet, Mr Musharraf could face a lengthy jail term unless he flees.
One of the first acts of the opposition leaders will be to restore the constitution and deprive the presidency of the power to sack prime ministers.
The nuclear-armed Muslim state can now attempt the restoration of democracy with, most likely, a moderate centrist coalition government made up of the PPP and PML-N. Hardline Islamist parties were marginalized in the polls.
Mr Zia said: "The voters have spoken and we all hope this will set us on the road to democracy."
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:51 am Post subject: not surprising
According to ABC news this morning a spokesman for Musharraf said he has no intention of resigning as his term still has four more years to run. The Pakastani press are calling him a dead man walking according to an ABC reporter on AM.
Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:36 am Post subject: just ridiculous
According to SBS the US and Britain are urging the winning parties to allow Musharraf to continue his presidency for his term.
( The original judiciary once restored won't allow that and the US and Britain will be seen as part of the evil policies pushed on the Pakastani people)
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:53 am Post subject: difficult time getting rid of crooks
According to www.whatreallyhappened.com Former Pakastani Prme Minister Nawaz Sharif will join the late Benazir Bhutto's party led by her husband Ali Zardari to restore the original judiciary raising prospects of a hostile government to Musharruf. Hundreds of lawyers have launched a week of protests to press for the restoration of the judges. Sharif said of Musharruf " This is the people's verdict against him...he should adccept the facts and he should not create hurdles and rifts.
Musharruf said he will back the incoming government as long as it chooses political peace. ( It appears that it will be very difficult to get rid of him peacefully)
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:52 am Post subject: takes a long time to get rid of a tyrant
According to ABC TV news last night hundreds of lawyers as well as Imran Khan are protesting all week for the release and restoration to the Supreme Court of Chief Justice Chawdry who is still behind razor wire under house arrest.
Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:50 am Post subject: they should do the tour
According to ABC radio news Geoff Lawson, former Australian cricketer and now coach of the Pakastani team is very angry that Australia has cancelled its tour of Pakistan. He said sporting venues have never been attacked and he thinks the Australian Cricket Board's attitude is ridiculous as he feels safe in Pakistan. ( Seems like this is another win for security control freaks who just love scaring , inflating the danger and controlling people )
All times are GMT + 10 Hours Goto page Previous1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Page 7 of 7
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
