I Am Still A Caretaker: Pakistan's Zia on the Soviets, the U.S. and Islam

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On future elections: I am still a caretaker. I am not an elected representative. I am the head of a military regime that is trying to look after this not-so-small region. We are at the crossroads of Southeast Asia and Southwest Asia. We are a backyard of the [Persian] Gulf. We are now a front-line state. Under these circumstances, we know that a lot of people are engaged in subversive activities. Pakistan today is the target of many countries. From the point of view of the Westerner, elections are a way of life. In Pakistan that is not so. We have lost half a country [formerly East Pakistan, now Bangladesh] as a result of the 1970 election. Elections to Pakistan are an anathema. Elections create crisis in Pakistan. A little while ago, politics in Pakistan meant violence, character assassination, polarization. It is my aim to inculcate positive Islamic values, and then, at the proper time, I will have no other option but to hold elections and let the people return their truly elected representatives. That time is in the not-too-distant future. It is not a decade away, but it is not weeks away. I think in a couple of years' time we should be able to have general elections at the national and provincial level.

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