Washington: The US has emphatically said that elections in Pakistan cannot be considered free and fair if held under emergency rule.
White House Press secretary Dana Perino was asked to respond to an interview that the President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf had given in which he said that emergency rule was likely continue through the January elections.
"This is a question that I ve answered several times from reporters in this room and while we were on the road in Texas. What we have said is that we want there to be free and fair elections, we want the president to take off his uniform, which, again, he announced today that he would do that by the end of November" Perino said.
"We don't see how it is possible to have free and fair elections under emergency rule. You want to have emergency rule lifted so that people could protest peacefully or that they could campaign and so that a free media can cover the elections, as we do here," Perino said.
