Pakistani crisis eases after vote postponed

Pakistan's political crisis appears to be stabilising

Pakistan's political crisis appears to be stabilising with parties looking ahead to an election in which the party of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is set to make gains.

There were no reports of protests against an Election Commission decision to postpone the general election to February 18 despite the objections of the two main opposition parties which wanted it held on schedule on January 8.

"Incidents of violence have gone down, in that sense one can say the situation is better," said former government minister and political analyst Shafqat Mahmood.

The murder of the charismatic Bhutto, an old Musharraf rival, and the violence that followed has fuelled doubts about stability and the transition to democratic rule in nuclear-armed Pakistan, a crucial ally in US anti-terrorism efforts.

Musharraf gave in to an opposition demand for outside help with the investigation into the assassination when he announced yesterday that British police would take part.

He said he was sure Al Qaeda-linked militants were behind the attack on Bhutto, who had spoken strongly of the need to tackle militancy and had been threatened by militant leaders.

But many Pakistanis believe other Bhutto enemies, perhaps in sections of the security agencies, were involved, fuelling anger against Musharraf whose popularity had already slumped.

Musharraf rejected any suggestion security agencies were behind Bhutto's murder.

The election had been regarded as a three-way race between Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the other main opposition party led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and the party that backs Musharraf. The latter ruled until a caretaker government was set up in November.

The PPP is expected to ride a wave of sympathy but analysts are unsure how much that might abate over the next six weeks.

It was also unclear if the party would pick up more votes in its strongholds, which would not necessarily translate into more seats, or make inroads into vote banks of other parties.
- Reuters