Pakistan's upcoming parliamentary elections should be (even more) interesting in light of this:
A prominent U.S.-based human rights group Friday released what it said was a recording of Pakistan's attorney general acknowledging that next week's national elections would be "massively" rigged. ...
In the recording, Qayyum, Pakistan's top legal officer, can be heard advising the caller to accept a ticket he is being offered by an unidentified political party for a seat, Human Rights Watch said.
"They will massively rig to get their own people to win," Qayyum said, according to a transcript released by Human Rights Watch. "If you get a ticket from these guys, take it."
Of course, this is news only to someone who hasn't paid any attention to Musharraf's MO since he first seized power, but it's still entertaining to have the smoking gun. Musharraf is now so wildly unpopular that members of his own party are distancing themselves from him, and in a fair election it seems certain that they wouldn't win enough seats to form a government (and in the best scenario Musharraf may even end up being impeached by a freely-elected parliament). So if the results from Monday's election show a sudden turnaround for Musharraf's party, we'll know why.
Pakistan's "President Dictator" (or "Prictator", as I like to think of it) sought to assure the nation that the elections will be fair and free, and they'd better believe it, or else:
On Thursday, Musharraf warned the opposition that it must accept the outcome of Monday's voting, without resorting to massive street protests.
"Let there be no doubt that anyone will be allowed to resort to lawlessness in the garb of allegations about rigging in the elections," Musharraf was quoted as telling a seminar of government officials in Islamabad by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan. "Let this serve as a warning to all those who think they can disturb the peace of the country. They will not be allowed. Do not test the resolve of the government."
"No agitation, anarchy or chaos can be acceptable," he said. "I assure you that the elections will be fair, free, and transparent and peaceful."
And why should we doubt his word? After all, it's not as if he declared a state of emergency, suspended the Constitution, and sacked the Supreme Court in order to maintain his grip on power. Oh, wait.
PLUS: The State Department is deeply concerned about the elections too:
"Given the rate of abstention, plus expressions of concerns by prominent [citizens], we would see that this reflects a broad lack of confidence in the impartiality and transparency of the electoral process, which is worth noting," State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said.
Did my subtle ruse fool you? I'm guessing no:
"We would certainly look to Venezuela to address the issues of transparency and impartiality for the benefit of Venezuelan democracy."
Comments