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Bush hopes to be ‘friends’ with new Pakistan government

By admin | February 20, 2008

US President George W. Bush on Wednesday embraced Pakistan’s elections as “a significant victory” for democracy and said he hoped the new government would “be friends of the United States.”

“It’s now time for the newly elected folks to show up and form their government. And the question then is: ‘will they be friends of the United States?’ and I certainly hope so,” he said.

Bush declined to discuss the political fate of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, amid stepped up calls following the opposition’s sweeping victory for the staunch US ally’s resignation. Musharraf has refused to quit.

“We view Pakistan as an important ally. We’ve got common interests. We’ve got interests in dealing with radicals who killed Benazir Bhutto. We’ve got interests in helping make sure there’s no safe haven so those people can plot and plan attacks on the United States of America and Pakistan,” said Bush.

Nawaz Sharif, the man Musharraf removed from office in a 1999 coup, and the widower of assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto, both said they wanted to work with other opposition groups after Monday’s vote.

Sharif urged Musharraf to quit, while Asif Ali Zardari said he would not work with anyone associated with the party that backed Musharraf in the last parliament, which observers said suffered a stinging defeat at the polls.

“I appreciate the fact that President Musharraf has done exactly that which he said he was going to do. He said he would hold elections, he said he would get rid of his emergency law,” said Bush.

“There was a victory for the people of Pakistan, and that is, there were elections held that have been judged as being fair. And the people have spoken. I view that as a significant victory.”

“I view it as a part of the victory in the war on terror. After all, ideologues can’t stand — like these guys we’re dealing with — can’t stand free societies, that’s why they try to kill innocent people, that’s why they tried to intimidate people during the election process,” said the US president.

Asked by the Wall Street Journal whether he would resign or retire, Musharraf said: “No, not yet. We have to move forward in a way that we bring about a stable democratic government to Pakistan.”

Musharraf was also quoted in the interview published on the newspaper’s website as saying he would like to function “with any party and any coalition because that is in the interest of Pakistan.”

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