Show rear T T doubt hang over elections in Pakistan i Laura aura A m Wr King Los Angeles Times The lingering sting of tear gas hung in the air as Khan a retired senior civil servant in his straightened his cardigan sweater and railed unreservedly against President Pervez He is shameless simply shameless said Khan who had just watched police here hurl tear-gas tear canisters and fire a water cannon to break breakup breakup up a crowd of protesters Many were lawyers clad cladin cladin cladin in the decorous black suits they wear in the courtroom Anyone in his position anyone with any dignity and sense of responsibility would leave resign said Khan shaking his white- white haired head His power cannot last The accuracy of that prediction will be tested when Pakistanis go to the polls Monday in the first parliamentary elections in more than five years balloting that is shadowed by fears of widespread violence and vote rigging who seized power in a coup in 1999 and went on to become a akey akey akey key US U.S. ally in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks is not contesting office He secured a new five- five year term as president last year although one based on a legally shak shaky vote by lawmakers Although Musha af is not on the ballot opponents of all stripes have sought to make these elections a referendum on his tenure even while acknowledging this puts them on a collision course with a leader who has shown readiness to rule by decree if his power is threatened Polls suggest that if the vote is reasonably fair the party aligned with could face a trouncing at the hands of his two major opponents the Pakistan Peoples People's Party now led by the husband of assassinated former Prime Minister and the party led by another former fonner prime minister Nawaz Sharif The most comprehensive comprehensives s survey of Pakistanis to date released this week by the Washington-based Washington International Republican Institute indicated nearly 80 percent of respondents believed should step aside The survey also suggested his party would gamer just 14 percent of the vote compared with 50 percent for party and 22 percent for Sharif with the remainder split among smaller regional and ethnic parties allies insist that his party retains a solid base of support particularly in rural constituencies of Punjab Pakistan's most populous province They foresee a divided result rather than an an n outright opposition victory The countryside is with us and here in Pakistan the rural masses matter said Tariq Azim a former minister in government who serves as asa asa asa a party spokesman He acknowledged that the party's standing had been battered by troubles because of all the opposition combining together to single him out to target him The past year has been difficult for the year old Pakistani leader a cascade of damaging events set setin setin setin in motion when he first tried last March to dismiss the popular chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry That galvanized galvanize a lawyer- lawyer led protest movement that swiftly grew into a much larger government anti-government groundswell With the 1 Supreme Court appearing poised to invalidate i his election to a new presidential term in November declared emergency rule akin to martial law using sweeping powers to suspend the Constitution fire Chaudhry and dozens of other judges s jail thousands of opponents and crack down on the electronic media The Th emergency decree was lifted in mid-December mid but political opponents say sayan an atmosphere of fear and intimidation persists I The deposed chief justice together with his family remains under house arrest as do several other prominent judges and lawyers |