There was an interesting development since your post...free elections in Pakistan...democracy at work...
Islamic Parties' Gains May Be West's Loss in Pakistan Vote
By John Lancaster
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, October 12, 2002; Page A22
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 11 -- Riding a tide of public anger over American anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, an alliance of religious parties made an unexpectedly strong showing in Thursday's elections, according to results released today, winning about one-quarter of the races for seats in the national legislature and dealing a blow to President Pervez Musharraf's support for U.S. military operations in South Asia.
The United Action Forum, a coalition of six Islamic parties whose platform is resolutely hostile to the United States, won at least 49 of 272 open seats in the National Assembly. In addition, the coalition captured a clear majority of seats in the legislature of North-West Frontier Province, which lies along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan....
...."It was one of the points of the agenda of the [alliance] that American bases are not acceptable for the Pakistani people," Asif Luqman Qazi, deputy foreign policy director of Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest and most influential religious party in the coalition, said in a telephone interview from the province this afternoon. "We will ask the U.S. forces to abandon these bases."
washingtonpost.com
I might expect that the religious parties also have a view on Kashmir and the relationship between India and Pakistan. Perhaps Bush can push a bit harder and get Musharaff overthrown by the fundamentalists.
jttmab |
