Musharraf: Pakistan polls to be fair and on time

updated 5:22 a.m. ET Feb. 14, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - President Pervez Musharraf pledged Thursday that next week's elections would be free, fair and held on time, after political opponents accused him of planning to rig the vote so he could maintain his grip on power.

He vowed to deal sternly with anyone who tried to disrupt the electoral process.

"Despite all rumors, insinuations and every type of apprehension, these elections will be free, fair, transparent and peaceful," Musharraf told a gathering of intellectuals in the capital, Islamabad.

The retired army general, who seized power in a 1999 coup and went on to become a key U.S. ally in the war against terrorism, has said Monday's vote for a new Parliament was a crucial step in the country's transition to democratic rule.

Vulnerable?
His presidency is not being contested but a convincing opposition win — as forecast in recent polls — could leave him vulnerable to impeachment.

That has sparked rumors that the government may seek an excuse to delay the vote or annul the results.

Ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a leading opposition politician, was among those who accused Musharraf of planning to rig the election.

"We stand for democracy. He stands for dictatorship," Sharif said as he traveled in his armor-plated SUV to a raucous campaign rally on Wednesday attended by about 7,000 supporters in the northern town of Kahuta. "In order to survive, he has to rig the election. He knows that."

He accused the government of buying votes and readying 1.8 million postal ballots to be cast in favor of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q party — allegations denied by officials — and warned that if the ruling party won, it would lead to "uncontrollable" unrest.

"We don't know who is going to lose and who is going to win," Musharraf retorted Thursday. "It is wrong. There will be no rigging."

A survey released this week by the U.S. government-funded International Republican Institute said half the Pakistanis polled planned to vote for Bhutto's party, 22 percent backed Sharif's group and only 14 percent favored the ruling PML-Q.

The poll of 3,845 adults was conducted Jan. 19-29 and has a margin of error of plus or minus about 2 percentage points.

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