Before the results had come in, President
Musharraf appeared on the state-run Pakistan Television, calling the vote "the
voice of the nation" and the "mother of elections" must be accepted. But in
fact this was the Mother of all Frauds.
Erik de Bruyn, leader of the left wing of the Flemish
Socialist Party in Belgium
has been invited by the PPP to monitor the elections in Pakistan. In particular he is monitoring
the elections in the industrial belt of Karachi
where the socialist PPP candidate Riaz Lund is challenging the ruling extreme
right wing party, the MQM. You will find here a first personal report published
yesterday Sunday, February 17th on his blog.
We are in the final stages of the election campaign in Pakistan. The
masses are clearly backing the PPP in large numbers. Reaction is also preparing.
Blatant rigging cannot be ruled out, but this would only serve to enrage the
masses. In this context the Marxists are standing in several constituencies,
where they are running a revolutionary election campaign that is having a big
impact among the workers and poor.