Election campaign heats up in Pakistan

Campaigning for Jan. 8 elections, Benazir Bhutto on Tuesday accused President Pervez Musharraf of failing to stop the spread of Islamic militancy and promised to crack down if she won.

Bhutto spoke to about 4,000 supporters in the central city of Lodhran as the campaign intensified. The parliamentary elections are seen as crucial to restoring democracy after a six-week state of emergency accompanied by a crackdown on the judiciary and opposition.

The elections will also have deep implications for the administration of Musharraf, a former army chief who is regarded as a key ally of the United States in its war on terrorism. He came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999.

Bhutto, a former prime minister who returned from exile to lead her party, said that extremism and terrorism had flourished across the country since Musharraf seized control.

“The areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan became a haven for extremists, and the extremism and terrorism is flowing down into other areas,” she said.

On Friday, a suicide bomber killed 56 people as they prayed in a mosque in northwestern Pakistan. Two days later, a suicide attacker killed nine people in an assault on a military convoy in the northwestern Swat region.

In her speech, Bhutto also said her party would provide better health, education and job opportunities.

Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister who returned from exile for the campaign, also railed against Musharraf at a rally of more than 5,000 people in the southern city of Rahim Yar Khan. He accused the ruling party of destroying the economy.

“Pervez Musharraf’s government made the people’s lives miserable. They cannot buy bread for their families due to extreme price hikes and inflation,” said Sharif, who is banned from running for office but was campaigning on behalf of his party.