Dear Editor,
As predicted by opinion polls, the party of the late Benazir Bhutto has won the parliamentary elections in Pakistan. But there is expected to be a lot of trouble ahead and perhaps the formation of an unstable coalition government as the PPP has failed to win a majority of seats on its own to control the government. Also, it is not clear yet who will be the Prime Minister of a coalition government. But I won’t be surprised if Benazir’s husband, Asif Zardari, stakes a claim to become PM Such an outcome would be troubling to many Pakistanis as well as to the parties of any coalition government. Zardari is not trusted and is known in Pakistan as Mr 15%.
I met a lot of Pakistanis in France and the Middle East over the last few days. They don’t like Zardari and they told me they would prefer someone else from the PPP as PM So I expect someone else to serve as PM
Also, many Pakistanis told me that their family members would not vote in the elections because of fear of suicide bombs from Islamic terrorists. Thus, I was not surprised to read that the turnout in the elections was just around 30%, the lowest in the country’s electoral history.
During the elections day as well as days leading up to the elections, there were threats of as well as numerous terrorist attacks throughout the country trying to disturb the election process. But the US government has reported that polling was relatively peaceful on election day and that the process was free and fair with minor problems. The Bush administration has praised Pakistan’s election as a step toward restoring democracy in the country.
According to unofficial results, the PPP won 88 seats while the party of former PM Nawaz Sharief won 66 seats while General Pervez Musharaff’s party won 38 seats. Other parties won a small number of seats. The hard core Islamic parties that want Pakistan to return to medieval practices (such as removing females from school, etc.) won a handful of seats, down from the 50 seats they held before parliament was dissolved in November.
Some 172 seats are needed to form a government. So it is expected that the PPP and Sharief’s party would come together to form a coalition with other parties.
As I indicated on the eve of the election, with Musharaf’s party being humiliated, questions will be raised about his future as president. It won’t be too long from now when there is expected to be a chorus of calls for him to step aside and the U.S may support such calls in order to solidify democracy. Also, I won’t be surprised if the new government restores the Chief Justice who was removed from office and placed under house arrest. The country is expected to remain unstable for a long period and be a concern to the international community because of its connection to Al Qaeda’s brand of terror.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
