| The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) want the election to go ahead as scheduled, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif said in a joint statement on Tuesday, according to Reuters. “It is up to the people of Pakistan to choose their future, and the time is now,” the statement read. “The January 8 elections must proceed as scheduled. This will not only be a tribute to the memory of Benazir, but even more important, a reaffirmation of the cause of democracy for which she died,” they said. Zardari said a delay would serve no purpose. “Delaying polls is just an excuse for the caretaker regime to buy time to invent other means to send the PML-Q back to power. We will not accept that,” party spokeswoman Sherry Rehman said in the statement. |