What the US wants is Musharaff as the President and Benazir as the PM. To achieve this objective, Musharraf will allow PPP to be the single largest party but just by a wafer thin margin. In order to be the PM, she will have to draw support from the parties loyal to Musharraf. Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khans' parties will be completely routed and they would be left with no leverage in the national politics. Benazir will become PM but Musharraf will remain in total control as Benazir will remain fully dependent on the supporting parties to remain in power.
This honeymoon will last for a while before a disgruntled Benazir tries to get powerful somehow. By this time, the initial euphoria over PPP victory would have died down and the Paki people will realise that there has been no improvement in the governence and the poll promises have not been fulfilled! The support for PPP will gradually erode and antiincumbancy factor will play its part. Finally, a year or so after the election, Benazir would have lost her popularity and Musharraf will reign supreme!
Lavishing praise on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf [Images] by the Bush administration has led to growing speculation that the "United States would blink at election-rigging" by the former general, says a well-known commentator on South Asia.
Maintaining that it was not the intention of President Bush to give any adverse impression in his praise of Musharraf, Robert Novak has said that lavishing such praise on the general, who had ruled Pakistan through military force, has led to assumptions that the "US would blink at election rigging" in Pakistan.
He said that intense US pressure has forced Musharraf to resign from the army to keep his presidency, and he is soon to lift martial law.
"Still at issue is how free the election will be and whether former premier Benazir Bhutto [Images] will take office with a large governing majority," Novak said in an opinion column in The Washington Post titled 'Rigging Pakistan's Election?".
"It remains an open question whether an election could still be rigged by Musharraf without martial law. He has appointed local electoral officials who will take orders.
Twenty million names have disappeared from the national voters list, whose preparation was financed with US aid," the columnist said.
"Plotters in Islamabad seeking to undermine Benazir Bhutto's effort to become prime minister a third time can claim that US diplomats demanding democracy do not reflect their president's true wishes," Novak wrote.
Lavishing praise on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf [Images] by the Bush administration has led to growing speculation that the "United States would blink at election-rigging" by the former general, says a well-known commentator on South Asia.
Maintaining that it was not the intention of President Bush to give any adverse impression in his praise of Musharraf, Robert Novak has said that lavishing such praise on the general, who had ruled Pakistan through military force, has led to assumptions that the "US would blink at election rigging" in Pakistan.
He said that intense US pressure has forced Musharraf to resign from the army to keep his presidency, and he is soon to lift martial law.
"Still at issue is how free the election will be and whether former premier Benazir Bhutto [Images] will take office with a large governing majority," Novak said in an opinion column in The Washington Post titled 'Rigging Pakistan's Election?".
"It remains an open question whether an election could still be rigged by Musharraf without martial law. He has appointed local electoral officials who will take orders.
Twenty million names have disappeared from the national voters list, whose preparation was financed with US aid," the columnist said.
"Plotters in Islamabad seeking to undermine Benazir Bhutto's effort to become prime minister a third time can claim that US diplomats demanding democracy do not reflect their president's true wishes," Novak wrote.
Lavishing praise on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf [Images] by the Bush administration has led to growing speculation that the "United States would blink at election-rigging" by the former general, says a well-known commentator on South Asia.
Maintaining that it was not the intention of President Bush to give any adverse impression in his praise of Musharraf, Robert Novak has said that lavishing such praise on the general, who had ruled Pakistan through military force, has led to assumptions that the "US would blink at election rigging" in Pakistan.
He said that intense US pressure has forced Musharraf to resign from the army to keep his presidency, and he is soon to lift martial law.
"Still at issue is how free the election will be and whether former premier Benazir Bhutto [Images] will take office with a large governing majority," Novak said in an opinion column in The Washington Post titled 'Rigging Pakistan's Election?".
"It remains an open question whether an election could still be rigged by Musharraf without martial law. He has appointed local electoral officials who will take orders.
Twenty million names have disappeared from the national voters list, whose preparation was financed with US aid," the columnist said.
"Plotters in Islamabad seeking to undermine Benazir Bhutto's effort to become prime minister a third time can claim that US diplomats demanding democracy do not reflect their president's true wishes," Novak wrote.
Lavishing praise on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf [Images] by the Bush administration has led to growing speculation that the "United States would blink at election-rigging" by the former general, says a well-known commentator on South Asia.
Maintaining that it was not the intention of President Bush to give any adverse impression in his praise of Musharraf, Robert Novak has said that lavishing such praise on the general, who had ruled Pakistan through military force, has led to assumptions that the "US would blink at election rigging" in Pakistan.
He said that intense US pressure has forced Musharraf to resign from the army to keep his presidency, and he is soon to lift martial law.
"Still at issue is how free the election will be and whether former premier Benazir Bhutto [Images] will take office with a large governing majority," Novak said in an opinion column in The Washington Post titled 'Rigging Pakistan's Election?".
"It remains an open question whether an election could still be rigged by Musharraf without martial law. He has appointed local electoral officials who will take orders.
Twenty million names have disappeared from the national voters list, whose preparation was financed with US aid," the columnist said.
"Plotters in Islamabad seeking to undermine Benazir Bhutto's effort to become prime minister a third time can claim that US diplomats demanding democracy do not reflect their president's true wishes," Novak wrote.
Lavishing praise on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf [Images] by the Bush administration has led to growing speculation that the "United States would blink at election-rigging" by the former general, says a well-known commentator on South Asia.
Maintaining that it was not the intention of President Bush to give any adverse impression in his praise of Musharraf, Robert Novak has said that lavishing such praise on the general, who had ruled Pakistan through military force, has led to assumptions that the "US would blink at election rigging" in Pakistan.
He said that intense US pressure has forced Musharraf to resign from the army to keep his presidency, and he is soon to lift martial law.
"Still at issue is how free the election will be and whether former premier Benazir Bhutto [Images] will take office with a large governing majority," Novak said in an opinion column in The Washington Post titled 'Rigging Pakistan's Election?".
"It remains an open question whether an election could still be rigged by Musharraf without martial law. He has appointed local electoral officials who will take orders.
Twenty million names have disappeared from the national voters list, whose preparation was financed with US aid," the columnist said.
"Plotters in Islamabad seeking to undermine Benazir Bhutto's effort to become prime minister a third time can claim that US diplomats demanding democracy do not reflect their president's true wishes," Novak wrote.
Lavishing praise on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf [Images] by the Bush administration has led to growing speculation that the "United States would blink at election-rigging" by the former general, says a well-known commentator on South Asia.
Maintaining that it was not the intention of President Bush to give any adverse impression in his praise of Musharraf, Robert Novak has said that lavishing such praise on the general, who had ruled Pakistan through military force, has led to assumptions that the "US would blink at election rigging" in Pakistan.
He said that intense US pressure has forced Musharraf to resign from the army to keep his presidency, and he is soon to lift martial law.
"Still at issue is how free the election will be and whether former premier Benazir Bhutto [Images] will take office with a large governing majority," Novak said in an opinion column in The Washington Post titled 'Rigging Pakistan's Election?".
"It remains an open question whether an election could still be rigged by Musharraf without martial law. He has appointed local electoral officials who will take orders.
Twenty million names have disappeared from the national voters list, whose preparation was financed with US aid," the columnist said.
"Plotters in Islamabad seeking to undermine Benazir Bhutto's effort to become prime minister a third time can claim that US diplomats demanding democracy do not reflect their president's true wishes," Novak wrote.
Lavishing praise on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf [Images] by the Bush administration has led to growing speculation that the "United States would blink at election-rigging" by the former general, says a well-known commentator on South Asia.
Maintaining that it was not the intention of President Bush to give any adverse impression in his praise of Musharraf, Robert Novak has said that lavishing such praise on the general, who had ruled Pakistan through military force, has led to assumptions that the "US would blink at election rigging" in Pakistan.
He said that intense US pressure has forced Musharraf to resign from the army to keep his presidency, and he is soon to lift martial law.
"Still at issue is how free the election will be and whether former premier Benazir Bhutto [Images] will take office with a large governing majority," Novak said in an opinion column in The Washington Post titled 'Rigging Pakistan's Election?".
"It remains an open question whether an election could still be rigged by Musharraf without martial law. He has appointed local electoral officials who will take orders.
Twenty million names have disappeared from the national voters list, whose preparation was financed with US aid," the columnist said.
"Plotters in Islamabad seeking to undermine Benazir Bhutto's effort to become prime minister a third time can claim that US diplomats demanding democracy do not reflect their president's true wishes," Novak wrote.
Lavishing praise on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf [Images] by the Bush administration has led to growing speculation that the "United States would blink at election-rigging" by the former general, says a well-known commentator on South Asia.
