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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan: Instability to 'intensify' after presidential election |
| 2007-10-06 |
| (AKI) - The current political crisis in Pakistan is likely to intensify even if General Pervez Musharraf is re-elected as president in this weekend's presidential polls, according to well-known Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid. "In essence the army is running the country," said Rashid in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI). "Neither the politicians nor the Supreme Court has the power to dislodge him [Musharraf]. Only the army can remove him power." Pakistan's presidential election on Saturday will be conducted within the national parliament and provincial assemblies. Musharraf is expected to win the presidential election on Saturday, although at least 86 parliamentarians have resigned in protest over his eligibility to stand while he is still chief of the armed forces. "Certainly he's going to win in the election, but he's not going to regain his credibility," said Rashid who is currently in Italy to attend a conference of international journalists organised by the Italian news magazine, Internazionale. According to Rashid, through attacks on the media and last month's deportation of former premier Nawaz Sharif just hours after his return to Pakistan after seven years in exile, Musharraf has shown himself to be the "autocract and the general that he is". Following Saturday's presidential poll, general elections have to be held in Pakistan by mid-January. Another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, has said that she will return to Pakistan on 18 October and stand in the parliamentary polls and is expected to seal a reconciliation deal withMusharraf. However Rashid believes that even if Musharraf eventually gives up his army post and becomes a civilian president, it is unlikely he will be willing to share power with a genuinely elected prime minister. "He has been in power for eight years and he's has shown no sign of wanting to share power with anyone," he said. "The crisis is unlikely to go away with Musharraf's election." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Fox sez it was a landslide for Perv |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-10-06 07:49 |