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March, 19 2005
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Saturday
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08 Safar 1426
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People urged to back moderate forces
By Majeed Gill
BAHAWALPUR, March 18: President General Pervez Musharraf has urged the people to vote for moderate and enlightened people in the upcoming local government elections and later in parliamentary elections in 2007. Addressing a huge public meeting at a local stadium here on Friday, the president said that the country required moderate and enlightened forces who could take the process of progress forward. “At this bright stage of economic turnaround, we need to keep up the momentum of socio-economic progress by effectively countering the forces of obscurantism and by extending support to enlightened and moderate leadership,” he emphasized. “We need to remove impediments in the way of our continued economic growth by discarding extremists — we have to promote moderation, unity and peace for taking Pakistan forward on the path to socio-economic development.”
The people must act against those who misuse mosques for giving rise to extremist tendencies of hatred, discord and intolerance, the president said.
Pakistan, General Musharraf told the gathering, did not exist in a vacuum but in an interdependent world in which it had to increase its trade and investment opportunities with other countries.
The president said Pakistan’s economy had taken off, factories and mills were running with full capacity and opportunities for investment were being promoted vigorously.
He said the government had adopted realistic policies which positively projected the country’s image internationally so much so that many foreign countries were consulting Pakistan on important issues.
Further elaborating on the economic conditions, General Musharraf said that the country had done away with the need for foreign aid. The president said Pakistan had recently returned 280 million dollars foreign aid to the IMF with thanks.
“Our policies are paying dividends as more and more foreign entrepreneurs are investing in a number of booming sectors, creating jobs,” he said.
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