ISLAMABAD, Sept 29: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has welcomed the International Crisis Group report released this week which said the military regime has refused to “cede real power to civilians”.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, the PPP chairperson said the report noted that the “mainstream parties struggle to survive, subjected to coercion and violence”.

The report stated that Gen Musharraf has created PML(Q) and “brought it to power through rigged elections”.

Commenting on the local elections, the ICG said, “The moderate parties again bore the brunt of state coercion, particularly the PPP and PML-N”.—Our Reporter