ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto said on Thursday that her party had decided to take part in elections but reserved the right to pull out later.

“To take the process forward we have to take part, we believe, either to force the elections to be credible or — if it’s rigged — to demonstrate that it has been forcibly rigged,” Ms Bhutto told AFP in an interview.

“The PPP is participating under protest but reserving the right to boycott subsequently,” she added.

Ms Bhutto welcomed President Pervez Musharraf’s promise to lift a state of emergency on December 16 as well as his resignation as army chief.

“Certainly these are good confidence-building measures, but more needs to be done, especially mechanisms for ensuring that the elections are free and fair,” she said.—AFP