Pakistan People's Party chief Benazir Bhutto on Friday turned down appeals from fellow All Parties Democratic Alliance parties, including Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, to join them in boycotting the January 8 general elections.
The APDM formed two committees, one led by Sharif and another by Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed, to hold talks with Bhutto and another by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman to convince them to join the boycott.
However, Bhutto said the PPP would not join the boycott and would participate in the elections 'under protest'. She said, "Boycott is an option, but we are not convinced. The boycott will not achieve anything".
President Pervez Musharraf announced, in a televised address on Thursday, that he would lift the state of emergency on December 16. Musharraf, who had been sworn in earlier in the day as a civilian for a second term as president, declared the emergency on November 3 to tackle, what he said, was growing Islamic militancy and an interfering judiciary.
Image: Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto smiles as she shares a light moment with her party candidate Zamurd Khan during election campaigning in Rawalpindi on November 30. Bhutto said her Pakistan People's Party intended to take part in the January 8 general elections, although "under protest" and reserved the right to pull out if the poll was rigged.
Photograph: Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images
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