Benazir returns to Pak, condemns emergency

Benazir Bhutto decried Musharraf's imposition of state of Emergency saying the move was tantamount to dictatorship.

Pakistan’s top opposition leader Benazir Bhutto tonight decried Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s imposition of state of Emergency saying the move was tantamount to dictatorship.

“Unless Gen. Musharraf reverses the course, it will be very difficult to have fair elections,” she told reporters soon after her return here from Dubai.

In a point-by-point rebuttal of Musharraf’s televised address in which he sought to justify emergency, she said “I agree with him that we are facing a political crisis, but believe the problem is dictatorship. I don’t believe the solution is dictatorship”, she said.

Story continues below this ad

She said what Musharraf had done was not declaration of Emergency but martial law because he has kept the constitution in abeyance.

Bhutto said Musharraf imposed the Emergency not to ensure stability of the country but was worried over the judgement of the Supreme Court on the petition challenging his re-election as President in uniform.

She said Musharraf tried to put the onus of Emergency on the Supreme Court but the truth was that the court was going to deliver its verdict on his qualifications to contest for the post of President.

Referring to the threat of extremism which was cited by Musharraf as justification for emergency, Bhutto said the problem of extremism cannot be controlled if there is no democracy in the country.

Donald Trump may replace H-1B lottery with wage-based selection process

World58 min ago

Days after hiking the fees for new H-1B applications to $100,000, the Donald Trump administration has proposed to overhaul the visa process for high-skilled non-immigrant workers. The Trump administration has suggested a wage-based selection process for the H-1B programme, instead of the current lottery system.

View all shorts

Live Blog