Musharraf must ensure fair elections in Pakistan

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has hung up his military uniform, announced a timetable for ending the state of emergency that he imposed last month, and has ordered the release of political activists, journalists and lawyers detained during protests.

These actions are a prelude to the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections, but Musharraf must guarantee that opposition parties will not be intimidated on the campaign trail and that there are no barriers to voting.

“I am determined to lift the emergency by Dec. 16,” the president said Thursday after taking the oath of office — as a civilian — for a second term. “The elections, God willing, will be held free and transparent under the constitution.”

The restoration of democracy, which the Bush administration has been demanding for weeks, is a welcomed developed in Pakistan, America’s chief ally in the war on global terrorism.

Indeed, the instability brought about by Islamic extremists aligned with Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist organization is cause for concern because Pakistan has nuclear weapons.

President Bush was placed in a difficult position by Musharraf. His suspension of the constitution, imposition of a state of emergency, the ouster of all the justices of the Supreme Court and the arrest of those who objected to his heavy-handed actions were in direct contradiction to America’s foreign policy goal of spreading democracy around the world.

Delicate diplomacy

But as much as Bush would have liked to have severed ties with Pakistan, its role in the war on terrorism and its possession of nuclear weapons required some delicate diplomacy.

This week’s decision by Musharraf to give up his position as chief of the army and to restore the foundation of Pakistan’s version of democracy allows the United States to once again concentrate on the war on terror. Pakistan’s active participation is essential, given that bin Laden and members of al-Qaida’s inner circle are said to be holed up in a mountainous region on the border with Afghanistan.

Tribal leaders are protecting the world’s leading terrorist and have launched deadly attacks on government forces.

It is against this backdrop that Pakistan’s political drama is being played out.

Musharraf urged former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, who have challenged the legitimacy of his second term in office, not to boycott the parliamentary elections. The president sacked the supreme court justices because they had indicated that he was not eligible to serve another term. The new justices Musharraf appointed voted in his favor.

But given his pledge of “free and transparent” elections and his insistence that there is now a level playing field so all parties can participate fully, Bhutto and Sharif have a responsibility to the nation and to their supporters to participate.

After all, that was the reason they gave for returning to Pakistan from exile.

A politically stable, democratic country is essential to stop the spread of Islamic extremism that threatens most Arab nations today.