Word: boycotters
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...Free and fair elections do not seem possible.' NAWAZ SHARIF, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, who joined with Benazir Bhutto, also a former Prime Minister, to call for a possible election boycott...
NAWAZ SHARIF, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, who joined with Benazir Bhutto, also a former Prime Minister, to call for a possible boycott in support of more open elections...
...candidates can formally withdraw from the race. That may be enough to force both Bhutto and Sharif to commit to the election and thus justify Musharraf's claim "that I have fulfilled the promise of bringing democracy" back. Says Iqbal, "If [the government is] sure there is no boycott then they will lift the emergency" - hinting at the opposition belief that Musharraf could still extend the emergency if one of the candidates commits to a boycott...
Sharif's party, along with a consortium of some 31 other parties (though not Bhutto's) has decided "in principle" to boycott the elections unless Musharraf reinstates the Supreme Court. (Many Pakistanis feel that Musharraf's real target during the emergency was an increasingly independent Supreme Court that threatened to declare his recent election as President invalid.) Since he returned from exile last Sunday, Sharif has been adamant that the restoration of Pakistan's Supreme Court is paramount. "The victim of the emergency was the judiciary," says Iqbal. "Therefore lifting emergency is only as good as surrendering a weapon...
Iqbal says that before a formal decision to boycott is made, the Muslim League will consult with Benazir Bhutto and her popular Pakistan People's party. "We must make an attempt to bring Benazir Bhutto in, we must invite her to join for solidarity. We need a unified stand." But so far, that unity seems far from guaranteed. Bhutto's spokesman Farhatullah Babar has indicated that she would participate in the election "under protest," as opposed to a full boycott. If Bhutto goes ahead, Sharif will have no choice but to follow, for fear of being...