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Zardari’s stress on progress

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Election Commission on Sunday formally notified Asif Ali Zardari as the winner of the presidential elections, and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader is to be sworn into office on Tuesday.

“The swearing in will take place on Tuesday,” PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar told The Hindu. PPP workers are celebrating across the country, particularly in Sindh, the home province of Mr. Zardari and his slain wife Benazir, and a stronghold of the party.

The PPP-led government in Sindh even declared a holiday on Monday for government offices and educational institutions. But the order was later withdrawn on the orders of Mr. Zardari, who, according to Geo TV, sent a message that it was important to work and contribute to the progress of Pakistan, rather than take off days.

He said one holiday could create massive delays for projects worth millions, and the time for real celebrations would come when Pakistan took its place in the world as a developed country.

The celebrations were marred by the rising death toll in a massive suicide attack in the NWFP capital Peshawar on Saturday, underlining the challenge posed by the Taliban that faces Mr. Zardari and his PPP-led government. As many as 35 people were killed in the blast, with scores others wounded. An explosives-laden car was driven into a checkpoint on the outskirts of the city, and six policemen were among the killed. The explosion left a huge crater on the road and destroyed dozens of shops nearby. Many dead and injured are feared buried under the rubble.

Police officials are saying that such a huge bomb could not have been meant for a checkpoint, that too in a nondescript part of the city. They have hinted that the actual target was possibly the NWFP Assembly where voting was under way in the presidential election, but the vehicle exploded prematurely.

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