Pakistan has no immediate plans to postpone national elections due on January 8 despite increasing violence and a decision by some of the leading political parties to boycott the polls.

Campaigning has been curtailed because many cities are under curfew and transport links have been severed since Ms Bhutto’s assassination.

Mohammad Mian Soomro, the acting Prime Minister, said that there would be no change in the election schedule. “We will consult all the political parties to take any decision about it,” he said.

Among those who have announced that they will not participate is Nawaz Sharif, a former Prime Minister, whose Pakistan Muslim League will boycott the polls in protest at Ms Bhutto’s assassination.

Q&A: the murder of Benazir Bhutto

Times South Asia Correspondent asks who had most to gain from killing the Pakistan People's Party leader

Multimedia

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BACKGROUND

• Pakistan in chaos as Benazir Bhutto assassinated

• Who killed Benazir Bhutto? Main suspects

• Obituary: Benazir Bhutto, 1953-2007

• Can democracy survive Bhutto killing?

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Some leading members of Ms Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have indicated that the party may also withdraw.

Ms Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is being urged by some members to take over the party leadership, but he faces opposition from the party rank and file. The other main contender is Makhdoom Ameen Fahim, the party’s vice chairman.

There are doubts that the PPP, which was expected to perform well in the elections, can remain unified under a new leader.

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