Musharraf promises transparent polls but opposition unconvinced

Islamabad: Though mainstream Pakistani political leaders continue to voice fears of rigging in the January 8 general elections, President Pervez Musharraf vowed overnight that the polls would be absolutely free, fair and transparent.

Speaking at a dinner meeting of the Pakistan-American society here, Musharraf said that there would no government interference and no meddling by the intelligence agencies to tilt the election in any party's favour.

Musharraf pointed out that returning officers would announce the result immediately after the counting of vote and there would be no stuffing of ballot boxes or any other such practice to change the results.

"The elections will be free and fair. I feel there is no room for rigging," the president said, ruling out any fraud.

Troika

About his vision for the future after the elections, Musharraf said the troika of president, prime minister and the army chief would work harmoniously, enabling the country to rise without any problems. "This will happen, Inshallah. The three working together will take the country to new heights," he said.

Former prime minister and chairperson of Pakistan People's Party, Benazir Bhutto, told a public meeting at Nawabshah in Sindh province on Wednesday that her part had agreed to contest the elections on the assurance of Musharraf that there would be no rigging.

She, however, once again expressed the apprehension that the former ruling party, the Qaid faction of the Pakistan Muslim League, whom she described as "political orphans", were involved in intrigues to manipulate the polls. Bhutto asked opposition parties and the people to foil such conspiracies.

Plan

Nawaz Sharif, leader of PML-N and also two-time former prime minister, told a campaign rally that a plan had been conceived at the governor's house in Punjab to steal the elections.

Aitzaz Ahsan, a PPP leader and president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), got a three-day break from his 47-day-old at his house in Lahore as the Punjab government allowed him the brief respite for the occasion of Eid Al Adha.

Ahsan, who withdrew his candidacy from the elections in solidarity with the movement of the country's lawyer community, told a private channel that PPP had made more than 500 applications to the Election Commission on specific instances of pre-poll rigging.

The SCBA chief said he and lawyers across the country were of the view that the elections would be rigged and added that their position would be vindicated on January 8. "My party will also find that this position is going to be vindicated."

He said the lawyer community would continue its struggle for the restoration of the independent judiciary that was decimated after imposition of emergency rule by Musharraf on November 3.

Dera Allahyar (AP) Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto accused Pakistan's military intelligence yesterday of pressuring candidates from her party to drop out of next month's parliamentary elections and urged officials to crack down on such harassment.

Bhutto told reporters during a campaign stop her party has evidence of the interference.

"We demand that the Election Commission should take notice of such things to ensure free and fair elections," she said, also accusing local mayors of gearing up to cheat. She urged intelligence agencies to concentrate their efforts on capturing terrorists.