DERA ALLAH YAR, Pakistan (AP) — Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto accused Pakistan’s military intelligence yesterday of pressuring candidates from her party to drop out of next month’s parliamentary elections and urged officials to crack down on such harassment.
Mrs. Bhutto, a two-time former prime minister who recently returned from years of living in exile, told reporters during a campaign stop that her party has evidence of interference, though she did not say what it was.
“We demand that the Election Commission should take notice of such things to ensure free and fair elections,” she said, also accusing local mayors of planning to cheat.
She urged intelligence agencies to concentrate their efforts on capturing terrorists, adding, “This is not your job to indulge in politics.”
Mrs. Bhutto also asked the government of President Pervez Musharraf to act against those involved in rigging the vote, reminding him that he promised the Jan. 8 balloting would be free and fair.
Mrs. Bhutto, traveling in a bulletproof vehicle and accompanied by tight security, was making her first tour to remote areas of Baluchistan province, where tribal elders have waged an insurgency to pressure the central government to return more wealth from resources extracted from their area.
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