Pakistani bishops' leader praises results of assembly elections

Published: 2008-02-22

TRICHUR, India (CNS) -- The head of the Pakistani bishops' conference praised election results in which the opposition won a majority of seats, in effect ousting allies of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the current president. "This is victory for democracy," Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore told Catholic News Service Feb. 22 in a telephone interview. "The result is pleasant and very surprising indeed." Expressing happiness over the "free and fair polls in difficult circumstances," the archbishop said the credit should go "to the people who came out and voted fearlessly." More than 200 people were killed in violence during the extended campaign for the Feb. 18 election for the National Assembly and four provincial legislatures. The election, originally scheduled for Jan. 8, was postponed following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party. The party won the largest number of assembly seats.

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