 President General Pervez Musharraf on Friday hailed the outcome of local council elections, seen as an initial step to obtaining a mandate for him to stay in power beyond 2007 as a "defeat for extremists". Results of Thursday's second phase in district council elections, billed as a demonstration of grassroots democracy, are expected over the weekend. All the signs are that they will broadly echo resounding wins claimed by government parties after the first round a week ago. "The outcome of the election throughout the country is a victory for the moderates, for the enlightened and a defeat for the extremists," Musharraf told a gathering in Karachi. |