Will the fresh Pakistani Polls be rigged??

[fatman17]

Fatman,

I have to disagree with you on what the West wants. I don't think Musharraf fits the bill for them anymore - he has shown himself to be independent to quite an extent. While he may still have GB's support, I believe US institutions would much rather prefer BB, someone not overly infected with a protect "national security and strategic assets at all costs" mindset, and who is willing to compromise on AQ Khan etc.

that is your perogative but one thing is clear the US admn (pentagon/cia/state dept) all agree that there is no alternate other than Musharraf to lead pakistan and fight their WoT and ensure that the nukes are safely tucked away. this includes both dems and reps.

 

[niaz]

My line of thinking is as follows:

If the major parties; mainly both PML-N and PPP; boycott elections, it is a one horse race and PML -Q win by a landslide. Will such an election have any legitimacy??.

I am sure that if PPP, PML-N and JUI/JI combine, they can put a lot of people on the street and start an uncontrollable agitation. Only scenario in such a situation is martial law with orders to shoot rioters on sight and removal of Musharraf; main bone of contention.

This will surely put the democartic process back a few years and hurt main stream parties such as PML (N &Q) and PPP. Trouble makers such as JI with the help of Jamiat Tulabaa are more likely to benefit. JI would never win enough seats on their own to be a significat political force. Only hope for them is to co-operate with the military regimes ( as they did with Zia ul Haq).

My thought process may be faulty but I can't see any way out of the mess if a general boycott of the election does takes place.

 

[Proud to be Pakistani]

My line of thinking is as follows:

If the major parties; mainly both PML-N and PPP; boycott elections, it is a one horse race and PML -Q win by a landslide.

I agree...

Will such an election have any legitimacy??.

If some parties are not taking part in election it doesnot imply that elections are non legitimate!

I am sure that if PPP, PML-N and JUI/JI combine, they can put a lot of people on the street and start an uncontrollable agitation. Only scenario in such a situation is martial law with orders to shoot rioters on sight and removal of Musharraf; main bone of contention.

No way they can put a lot of people on roads, % of people backing these parties is slim..

This will surely put the democartic process back a few years and hurt main stream parties such as PML (N &Q) and PPP. Trouble makers such as JI with the help of Jamiat Tulabaa are more likely to benefit. JI would never win enough seats on their own to be a significat political force. Only hope for them is to co-operate with the military regimes ( as they did with Zia ul Haq).

This in turn will only hurt these parties and not the democracy itself since it will portray them as the ones who only want create agitation in the society.

My thought process may be faulty but I can't see any way out of the mess if a general boycott of the election does takes place.

There will be no general boycott since if these parties decide not to take part in elections still PML Q and MQM and JUI F will take part, JUI F is the main part of MMA, so they will only loose in this case rather to gain from these Elections.