Pakistan's Election Won't Be Perfect, but It May Help

What can the world expect from Pakistan's controversial parliamentary elections on Oct. 10--the first national ballot since General Pervez Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999? The answer is crucial not just to Pakistan's stability but also to the Bush Administration's fight against al Qaeda there and in neighboring Afghanistan.

Some opposition politicians and analysts call the vote a sham. That's because Musharraf has taken pains to ensure that he will still be in control even after a new civilian government assumes power. He has banned the two national leaders who could try to grab his limelight--exiled former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif--from running in the election. Earlier this year, he engineered a referendum to extend his presidency by five years. Recently imposed constitutional amendments allow Musharraf to dissolve the newly elected Parliament at will. And he created a National Security Council--chaired by him and including several other military officers--to oversee the Parliament's and government's work. "It's a travesty of the parliamentary system," complains Rifaat Hussain, chairman of the Defense & Strategic Studies Dept. at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad.