Bhutto Walks Out in Protest at Pakistan Assembly Swearing-In
A protest walkout by ousted Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto over her jailed husband disrupted the opening of Pakistan’s new National Assembly on Saturday, following elections in which her party was badly beaten.
Bhutto accused the caretaker government led by the Islamic Democratic Alliance of lying after it failed to bring her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, from a Karachi jail to take the oath as an Assembly member.
He was arrested Oct. 10 on disputed charges of involvement in extortion and illegal bank loans, but was elected to an Assembly seat from Karachi in the Oct. 24 elections.
“They have started the Assembly with a lie,” Bhutto said after storming out of the house with 36 other deputies of her Pakistan People’s Party.
Nawaz Sharif, chosen by the IDA to be the next prime minister and expected to take office Tuesday after formal election by the Assembly, said his government would pursue decency in politics.
Bhutto charged that officials had reneged on a promise to Assembly Speaker Meraj Khalid that her husband could attend the opening session, as ordered by a court.
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