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Jesse Jackson to go on democracy mission to Pakistan
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Candidate
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| Contributor | The Sunset Provision |
| Last Edited | The Sunset Provision Nov 21, 2007 01:51am |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Wednesday, November 21, 2007 07:50:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | The US is stepping up pressure for quick restoration of democracy in Pakistan even as the White House debates 'leadership options' in that country, Jesse Jackson, the iconic civil rights leader and a leading Democrat, said here Friday.
'The US has made an investment in the Musharraf regime and so can now use its leverage to restore democracy and order in Pakistan,' Jackson, who is on a six-day visit to India, told reporters here.
'The security we seek and hope to seek is democracy and shared responsibility,' Jackson stressed, while criticising the imposition of emergency in Pakistan early this month.
Jackson, an ally of the legendary American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, was a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination twice in 1984 and 1988.
Jackson plans to go to Pakistan, after his visit to India this week, and meet both President Pervez Musharraf and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, also a former prime minister, and help in reconciliation between the two key players in Pakistan politics.
'I will press for reconciliation and return of democracy in Pakistan. We appeal to Musharraf to give democracy and negotiations a chance,' Jackson, revered by millions of Americans as the 'conscience of a nation,' said.
'Musharraf should release political prisoners and let the oxygen of democracy reign in the region,' he stressed.
'A threat to democracy is a threat to democracy everywhere,' he said.
'Within the White House, there is a vigorous debate about leadership options in Pakistan,' he replied when asked whether the US was looking at a new line of leadership in Pakistan.
'The US who invested millions of dollars in Musharraf. With each passing day, their confidence is eroding,' he said amid speculation that the White House was looking for an alternative to Musharraf if the situation does not improve in Pakistan.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates Thursday warned that Musharraf's effectiveness |
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