Font size: 
Even if the elections are held, it is feared that the current law and order situation in the country is not congenial to ensure security for the normal participation of the ordinary people. In the past 40 days, more than 7 major bomb explosions have ripped the country apart injuring people and causing heavy damage to property. The bombs were planted targeting public meetings and lawyers' rallies. The lawyers in Pakistan have been holding protests ever since the former chief justice was removed from his office in March 2007. It is common talk in Pakistan that some of the explosions were targeting these protest rallies and that government agents are suspected to be behind them. The series of explosions have also damaged the law enforcement agencies, logistically and morally.
Under these conditions, the opposition parties and human rights organizations, including the media, seriously doubt the transparency and fairness of the current elections. According to a study and a survey conducted by the Free and Fair Election Network based in Islamabad, in almost every constituency, about 14,000 voters are listed more than once. These are then used for rigging the elections to help the government parties. The Free and Fair Election Network, which comprises of 40 NGOs, published the results after visiting 45,000 display centers established by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Their survey also found that as many as 15 million voters (17.65 percent of an estimated 87.5 million citizens of voting age) might still be missing from the Final Electoral Roll, while 7.5 million voters on the FER (9.30 percent of 81 million records) may be listed more than once. It also found that 1.26 million National Identity Cards holders (1.55 percent of 81 million FER records) could be listed more than once. The survey also reveals that 27 percent of Pakistani households have been dropped from the voters' list. Neither the Election Commission nor the government has denied the data.
President Musharraf had announced at a briefing on Feb. 14 that law enforcement officers have orders to shoot any 'miscreants' found to be hindering the election process on the polling day. According to press reports, about six people were killed in the past three days, while some 2,000 workers of the PPP were arrested throughout the country, including seven candidates for national and provincial assemblies. Gian Chand, a candidate for the national assembly contesting against the former chief minister of Sindh and a known friend of President Musharraf, was arrested on charges of anti-state activities. Mr. Chand is a Hindu and an activist of the PPP.
The government has also stopped the free movement of foreign monitoring groups and foreign media persons on the pretext of terrorism. The Ministry of Interior has also announced that there are several terrorist and suicide groups prowling in the cities and about 19,000 polling stations have been declared as "sensitive."
The government has also imposed restrictions on the media for 'progressive' announcements of voting results. The government has informed newspapers, radio and television channels to announce only those results issued by the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority; a media restriction never used in the history of the country. It has always been the practice that polling agents of different candidates, after the counting of votes, announce the result in the presence of the presiding officers.
President Musharraf has thus retained his power with the help of the so-called extra constitutional powers maintaining his domain as the chief of army staff and as the president, at the same time. The Election Commission was never reconstituted with the approval of any elected forum or with the consensus of the parliamentary political parties, which violates the mandatory requirement under the Constitution of Pakistan. Through the state of emergency declared on Nov. 3, 2007, the president made several amendments to the Constitution to grab more power. He has also tailored the judiciary as per his whims to save his friends from being accountable to the judiciary.
The national and international media through a consensus analysis has raised suspicions that the elections on Feb. 18 could be rigged and that the coalition party led by Musharraf will be given an upper hand in the results.
Implementing schemes for rigging the elections would be a dangerous move, not only for what is left of democracy in Pakistan but also for the very existence of the country. The persons and groups that will benefit the most will be the religious fundamentalists and militant organizations in Pakistan. In these circumstances, the Feb. 18 elections would be yet another blow to the freedom of expression, civil liberties, constitution, societal tolerance, and the people's participation in the state affairs in Pakistan.
