The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Islamabad

Parliamentary elections in Pakistan are set to be postponed by several weeks despite opposition demands they go ahead as planned on Jan. 8, officials said Monday, setting up a new political standoff after Benazir Bhutto's assassination.

A Pakistani election official said Tuesday "it looks impossible" for the country to hold elections as scheduled on Jan. 8 in the wake of the violence that followed the assassination.

However, a final decision would not be made until Wednesday, after the Election Commission consulted all the political parties, commission spokesman Kanwar Dilshad said. Critics have said the commission is stacked with officials loyal to President Pervez Musharraf.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, now the country's most prominent opposition leader, has threatened street protests if the vote is delayed. "We will agitate," he told The Associated Press. "We will not accept this postponement."

Western governments are urging the government to go ahead with the polls without major delays. They see the elections as a key step in U.S.-backed plans to restore democracy to the nation as it battles Taliban and al-Qaida militants. White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the government should set a specific date for new elections, but he said the timing was "up to the people of Pakistan."

Bhutto's party, now effectively controlled by her husband, and Sharif's opposition movement both feel they could be helped at the polls by widespread sympathy at Bhutto's killing last week at a campaign rally and accusations that allies of Musharraf had a role in the murder.

But political instability and the technical challenges of holding the vote after nationwide riots following the killing led to widespread expectations that the balloting will be delayed.