January Elections and Musharraf’s Strategy
By Naveed Khan
San Jose, CA
President Musharraf can only survive if his supporters rig the elections in January. If he had the intention of holding fair and transparent elections, as he claims, why should he appoint a caretaker administration that consists of PML-Q and MQM people? Why should he stifle the media and strangulate the judiciary? The "free" part of elections is not even conceivable in the absence of a free media and independent judiciary.
The only issue is if the balloting would be fair and the election process transparent and devoid of interference from the caretaker and local body functionaries. By all indications, the caretaker government is consisting exclusively of MQM and PML-Q people and is not being held accountable to ensure its neutrality.
During his tenure, Musharraf has failed to organize fair balloting and transparent elections - even when his position was very strong. Now when he is despised by the majority, his credibility is zero, his position vulnerable, why would he inject fairness in the balloting process when he has perfected the art of rigging? I suspect, the elections would be massively rigged and some pliant opposition members representing JUI-F and PPP-P would be elected to give it some credence in the eyes of his main benefactor - the USA.
For the sake of Pakistan's future I hope I am proven wrong. I hope Pakistan gets rid of the current political system driven by corruption, nepotism and terrorism. I hope Musharraf realizes that Pakistan is more important than himself.
