The Bush administration wants Musharraf to survive and has been willing to let him retrace some of his missteps. The withdrawal of the emergency was another occasion for the State Department to speak of ‘positive’ developments in Pakistan. But just as American officials called upon Musharraf to ‘do more’ in fighting terrorism, they are now calling upon him to ‘do more’ to restore democracy in the country.

Whether Musharraf does more in reversing his authoritarian course will depend largely on the domestic and international pressures building up against him. The legitimacy and credibility of the January 8 election is going to be a major test in this respect.

International perception of the election process being unlawfully and unethically tilted in favour of the King’s Party is growing. As the Washington Post reported, “With less than a month to go before parliamentary elections in Pakistan, independent experts say that there is little chance the polls will be either free or fair — and that the result could be renewed tumult across the country.”

The government’s hopes of holding a partially credible election with results that change little in the power structure are unlikely to be fulfilled. Either Musharraf would have to take the risk of allowing opposition success at the polls to secure the election’s acceptability or he would ensure massive rigging to keep his party in power at the cost of all credibility.

It is bad enough to have little support at home. It will be worse when the lack of support at home is accompanied by a total absence of credibility abroad.

... contd.