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NARR: In next week's parliamentary elections, voters will elect local representatives who, in turn, will choose Pakistan's next Prime Minister. This is NOT an election year for the nation's PRESIDENT Pervez Musharraf, but Musharaf's PARTY stands to loose its control in parliament.
NARR: Adil Khan is a Pakistani-American doctor who lives here in New York but is currently in Pakistan visiting family. Khan says that there are people in his country who would like to see next week's elections derailed.
ADIL KHAN: Politics is very mafiosa in Pakistan. For people who want to unravel the process, it's really easily done here. (8 Sec)
NARR: Khan points to the recent turbulence in his country that's led Musharraf's government to POSTPONE elections several times. The last time Musharraf withdrew the promise of elections was after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Many outsiders considered BHUTTO something of a beacon of democracy, but Khan points out that she called herself her party's president for life. He says Bhutto made a mockery of democracy.
ADIL KHAN: That word is flouted so easily, it starts to reek of its own odor. You can't have democracy if you're president for life, it's a contradiction in terms. (10 sec)
NARR: All the major players in this election are widely seen as corrupt. Musharraf originally came to power in a military coup. Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, is called "Mr. 10%" because of all the kickbacks he received when his wife was in power. Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the third major party, has also been embroiled in corruption charges. Khan is disheartened.
ADIL KHAN: You really don't have any options here. (2 sec)
NARR: Without any good options, many people are unlikely to go to the polls at all. Voter turnout in recent elections has hovered at around 40%.
Kamran Shasi is a commentator for the Dawn, Pakistan's most widely-read English-language newspaper. He's so skeptical of Musharraf that he considered staying home on election day, and he says that U.S. support of Musharraf only makes matters worse.
KAMRAN SHASI: I wasn't going to vote before Benazir died, because I didn't agree with the deal she made with Musharraf, the American-inspired, let's face it, deal between a democratic leader and the dictator. But after she's been killed, I'll go vote, I'll vote for her party I guess. (16 sec)
NARR: Recent polls suggest that Bhutto's party will win the elections, but Shasi thinks that Musharraf will try to keep HIS party in power at any cost.
KAMRAN SHASI: Every indicator is that the party that has been in government, the king's party, Musharraf being the King, is unpopular, that they'll do anything to win, and that if they do, it will be taken as a rigged election. In which case, the country will go up in flames. (20 sec)
NARR: Shasi isn't the only one who fears that the elections could turn violent. Naim Hamid lives in New York and works at JFK airport. His wife and daughter are back home in Rawalpindi. Hamid says he found the recent US primaries inspiring, and looks forward to voting in his first US election when he becomes a citizen next year. Even so, he's advised his family not to vote in the Pakistani elections.
NAIM HAMID: Whenever I call my wife, I say don't go for vote over there, because there are too many terrorist people and they attack over there.
LAUREN (on scene): So even though you believe strongly in democracy you told your wife not to vote?
NAIM HAMID: Yeah. (11 sec)
NARR: Inside the Pakistani Mission on 5th Avenue, First Secretary Rafi Shah insists the elections will be fair.
RAFI SHAH: I am pretty confident that the candidate with the most votes will definitely win. (7 sec)
NARR: And despite continuing turbulence, Shah says the elections will really happen this time.
RAFI SHAH: I even think that even if there is something like, you know, the death of Benazir Bhutto, that was such a tragic thing. I'm 99% confident that it should go ahead. (14 sec)
NARR: Baring any unforeseen circumstances, the outcome of the elections should be clear by Monday night. But uncertainty about the future of democracy in Pakistan will likely continue.