NEW DELHI, Feb 20: President Pervez Musharraf displayed “a kind of grace in accepting” the defeat of his allies in elections, US senator and poll monitor John Kerry said on Wednesday.
“We would like to say he kept his promise to hold elections. Imperfect as it was, it produced results... and he showed a kind of grace in accepting what people had said,” Mr Kerry said in New Delhi, a day after meeting Mr Musharraf in Islamabad.
Mr Kerry was part of a team of veteran US senators, along with Joseph Biden and Chuck Hagel, who monitored Pakistan’s crucial vote held on Monday.
Mr Biden said Mr Musharraf had told them that “the people had spoken — this will not change, the results are clear, there would be no push back at all” against the results.
Mr Kerry said it was up to Mr Musharraf and the Pakistani people to decide whether he stayed on as president in the wake of the election results which saw the president’s allies beaten by the two main opposition parties.
“It would be totally inappropriate for us as American officials... to express any views on this,” he said when asked if Mr Musharraf should resign.
“If they recognise this opportunity correctly, this could be a transition that is very important for the larger stability of Pakistan and also for the region,” Mr Kerry said.
“It is up to the Pakistani people to see that the next few days are well used,” he added.
On the impact the election results would have on the US-led war on terror, Mr Kerry said: “I don’t think it (the war on terror) rests on a single man.”
“We will deal with and work with the next set of leaders,” Mr Hagel said.—AFP
