May 17, 2006	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1427

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ISLAMABAD/LAHORE, May 16: Chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Benazir Bhutto on Tuesday met Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Don McKinnon in his London office and apprised him about the political situation in Pakistan and the need for free and fair elections in the country.

According to PPP spokesman Farhatullah Khan Babar, Ms Bhutto was accompanied by ARD chairman and party’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Makhdoom Amin Fahim and former high commissioner of Pakistan in the United Kingdom Wajid Shamsul Hassan.

The meeting between the PPP delegation and the Commonwealth secretary-general took place a day after the signing of the Charter of Democracy by Ms Bhutto and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif in London.

Mr Babar said the PPP delegation told Mr McKinnon that elections could not be held in a free and fair manner in Pakistan under President Pervez Musharraf’s regime keeping in view the track record of recent elections.

Ms Bhutto told Mr McKinnon that democracy was a must to wage a fight against terrorism.

She told Mr McKinnon that President Musharraf had “deliberately marginalized mainstream political parties to give a false impression to the west that in nuclear Pakistan the choice was between military dictatorship and religious extremism”.

Mr Babar said that the two sides also discussed the overall situation in the South Asian region and terrorism.