Islamabad, Jan 1, SPA – Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was scheduled to address the nation after his government formally announces that forthcoming parliamentary elections will be delayed, DPA quoted the Associated Press of Pakistan as saying Tuesday.
The Election Commission of Pakistan was scheduled to announce Wednesday that the polls, slated for January 8, will be pushed back, likely for at least a month, following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto last week, officials said.
Three days of rioting following her slaying in a gun-suicide bomb attack in the city of Rawalpindi last Thursday destroyed more than a dozen election offices in the southern province of Sindh, her political stronghold.
Election officials said it would be “impossible” to hold the polls on time, given the destruction of electoral rolls, ballot papers, polling booths and other materials.