Musharraf Thwarts Protest

The controversial election continues today as Musharraf's prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, filed the president's nomination papers. Security forces swarmed the area around the election commission, stifling a planned protest to Musharraf's nomination. Unfazed by the security crack-down in Islamabad, around 1,000 protestors in the city of Lahore continued to rally against Musharraf. Opposition protestors' vehicles were banned from entering Islamabad, thus resorting to walking from the outskirts of the city to where they wished to place their nominations. Although some vow not to accept the legitimacy of a Supreme Court decision allowing Musharraf to run, Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) claim they will not contest the elections if such a decision is declared. In a positive shift, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court demanded the release of political detainees, while also demanding the opening of the roads leading to Islamabad. The Supreme Court's actions testify to the growing strength of democratic institutions slowly taking root nonetheless, the detainment of political opposition largely shows where massive improvements are needed. We shall soon witness a historical moment in Pakistan's political history, as the Chief Justice declared October 6th as the date for the upcoming election. For more on Pakistan, please read our newly released report, "A Perilous Course." It will provide, amongst other valuable information, a much better understanding of the current political dealings in the country.