News
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Zardari votes by post; Bilawal won’t ‘take the risk’ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has voted by post in Pakistan’s landmark general election, a spokesman confirmed on the eve of polls which the Taliban have vowed to attack with suicide bombers. “Yes he has cast his vote through a postal ballot,” presidency spokesman Farhatullah Babar told AFP.
On the other hand the chairman of the outgoing Pakistan People’s Party — denied a postal ballot — will not vote in Saturday’s elections because of threats to his life, a senior party official said.
A senior PPP leader Taj Haider praised the election commission for allowing Bilawal’s father, President Asif Ali Zardari, a postal ballot, but at the same time expressed sorrow that the same privilege had been denied to Bilawal. “We cannot take the risk that he physically casts his vote,” Haider repeated. The precise whereabouts of Bilawal is unclear. The Taliban have directly threatened Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and its main secular coalition partners, which the party says dramatically curtailed its ability to campaign in public. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk