Pakistan delays election to Feb. 18

Pakistani officials announced Wednesday that the parliamentary election planned for next week will be postponed until Feb. 18.

The election was originally slated for Jan. 8, but Qazi Mohammed Farooq, head of Pakistan's election commission, said at a news conference it would be impossible to hold it on that day because of the chaos following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

Farooq said the commission decided to delay the vote until after the holy month of Muharram, which runs from Jan. 10 to Feb. 8.

He assured opposition parties that the election will be clean and transparent, and urged them to support the date.

Opposition parties have accused the Pakistan government of postponing the election to help the ruling party, allied to President Pervez Musharraf, and worry delaying the election could lead to more violence.

Many believe Bhutto's party, the Pakistan Peoples Party, would have seen a boost from sympathy votes if the election took place next Tuesday as originally planned.

Bhutto, who died in a suicide bomb and gun attack in the city of Rawalpindi on Dec. 27, had accused elements of the ruling party of plotting to kill her, a charge they deny.

Fifty-eight people died in days of unrest following the killing of Bhutto.

The party, now headed by her son and husband, had demanded the election take place as planned.

Western countries, including the U.S., had also urged Pakistan to keep the original election date.

The country has been in turmoil since Musharraf imposed emergency rule in early November. The month-long suspension of the constitution saw the president strip the Supreme Court of independent judges and crack down on opposition politicians.

Responding to growing pressure, Musharraf stepped down from his role as army chief on Nov. 28 and later ended the state of emergency.

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