No image available
/ 24 March 2008

Pakistan Parliament votes for new leader

Pakistan’s Parliament prepared on Monday to elect a new prime minister as the coalition government appeared set for a confrontation with key United States ally President Pervez Musharraf. Yousuf Raza Gilani, the candidate nominated by the party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, is a virtual certainty to win.

No image available
/ 20 February 2008

Musharraf rejects opposition calls to quit

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf rejected demands to quit on Wednesday and called for a ”harmonious coalition” as victorious opposition parties mulled a grouping that could force the key United States ally from power. Musharraf was making his first official comments since Monday’s crucial parliamentary vote.

No image available
/ 19 February 2008

Votes cast in the shadow of violence

President Pervez Musharraf’s leading lieutenants appeared to have lost their seats in early results in Monday’s Pakistani election, dealing a blow to the retired general’s hopes of clinging to power. Early winners included the Pakistan Muslim League (N) of the former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who was polling strongly in Punjab.

No image available
/ 18 February 2008

Polls open for Pakistani vote

Fears of violence overshadowed Pakistan’s general election on Monday with 80 000 troops backing up police to watch over a vote that could return a Parliament set on driving President Pervez Musharraf from office. Musharraf has lost much popularity over the past year because of his manoeuvres to hold on to power which included a clash with the judiciary.

No image available
/ 17 February 2008

Violence flares as poll nears in Pakistan

Leaders of Pakistan’s opposition parties have been making frantic last-minute efforts to convince fearful voters to turn out in crucial parliamentary elections on Monday that may plunge the 164 million-strong nation into chaos. As the last day of official campaigning in the most troubled contest for decades drew to a close on Saturday, no one was confident of a victory.

No image available
/ 16 February 2008

Pakistani politicians wind up election campaign

Pakistani politicians were winding up campaigns on Saturday for a general election that is meant to complete a transition to civilian rule but has been overshadowed by fear of violence and accusations of rigging. The elections on Monday are for a new Parliament and provincial assemblies and while President Pervez Musharraf is not taking part, the vote could spell trouble for the important United States ally.

No image available
/ 16 February 2008

Bomb kills 37 on last day of Pakistan vote

A suicide car bomb outside a Pakistani election candidate’s office killed 37 people in the violent north-west on Saturday, the last day of campaigning for an election meant to complete a transition to civilian rule. Separately, police in the south of the country said they had foiled another attack planned for polling day on Monday.

No image available
/ 1 January 2008

Bhutto had been set to reveal ‘poll-rig plot’

Benazir Bhutto had planned to brief visiting American politicians about an alleged poll-rigging plot orchestrated by Pakistan’s intelligence agencies on the day she was killed, senior officials of her party said on Monday. Bhutto had obtained details of an Islamabad safe house run by the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency from where it intended to manipulate the poll.

No image available
/ 28 November 2007

Musharraf sheds ‘second skin’

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf stepped down as army chief on Wednesday and will be sworn in as a civilian leader for a second five-year term on Thursday. Musharraf passed the baton of command to his hand-picked successor, General Ashfaq Kayani, at a ceremony at army headquarters in Rawalpindi.

No image available
/ 27 November 2007

Musharraf prepares to shed army uniform

Pakistan’s General Pervez Musharraf said farewell to military colleagues on Tuesday as he prepared to become a civilian president ahead of January’s general election. Musharraf visited Joint Staff headquarters in Rawalpindi a day before he steps down as army chief to fulfil one of the long-held demands of his political rivals and Western allies.

No image available
/ 5 October 2007

Supreme Court puts Musharraf’s future on ice

Pakistan’s Supreme Court kept the fate of President Pervez Musharraf’s re-election bid in its hands by deciding a vote could go ahead on Saturday, but a winner cannot be declared until it rules if he was eligible to stand. United States ally General Musharraf is sure to win the vote in Parliament and the country’s four provincial assemblies.

No image available
/ 27 September 2007

Pakistan’s Musharraf nominated for vote

Pakistan military leader President Pervez Musharraf filed nomination papers on Thursday to run for re-election on October 6, while the Supreme Court prepared to rule on the army chief’s eligibility to stand. A bench of nine judges is due to deliver a ruling on Friday that could have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan’s transition to greater democracy.

No image available
/ 18 September 2007

Musharraf to quit army if re-elected

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf will give up his post of army chief if he is re-elected president and he will be sworn in for a new term as a civilian, his lawyer told the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The promise to stand down as army chief removes a major objection to Musharraf’s proposed re-election by October 15.

No image available
/ 17 September 2007

Musharraf plans to quit army for presidency

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf plans to quit as army chief to become a civilian leader, removing a key objection to his proposed re-election in October. Musharraf has been holding the post of army chief since he seized power in a military coup in 1999 despite calls from the opposition to quit the dual office.

No image available
/ 10 September 2007

Former Pakistani PM arrested, deported

Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif was arrested and deported to Saudi Arabia on Monday within hours of arriving home from exile, vowing to end the rule of President Pervez Musharraf. While with the deportation Musharraf has fended off the immediate challenge from a rival, the president is likely to face a backlash from many Pakistanis.