It appears that PakistanÂ’s elections will be delayed a month.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has decided that parliamentary elections will be held by Feb. 15 and reiterated plans to step down as head of the Army, partial concessions to the pressure building on him from Washington and inside Pakistan since he declared a state of emergency over the weekend.

However the embattled president still seemed headed for direct confrontation with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who said Thursday's announcements would not dissuade her from a mass rally planned for Friday in Rawalpindi. Authorities rounded up hundreds of members of Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party in overnight raids -- the first time that party activists have been targeted since the emergency was declared.

And that last part of the report raises an important issue – will these be free elections, or will they be a show that does not have the actual substance of democracy. The reality was that Musharraf was on a path towards legitimizing his rule a week ago, but has now done a great deal to destroy the credibility of any outcome in which he remains in power. And in light of the question I asked this morning, I find myself wondering if we will see the Pakistani leader leaving the country bound for some foreign refuge, just as Ferdinand Marcos was forced to do in the Philippines. I'm curious -- how many pairs of shoes does Mrs. Musharraf own?

Posted by: Greg at 11:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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