by Abdulhadi Hairan

Created on: February 10, 2008   Last Updated: November 19, 2011

The upcoming parliamentary elections in Pakistan scheduled for February 18 seems to be the first ever bloodiest experience in the history of the nation as not only the nationalist party saw its supporters bathed in pools of blood but the country's most popular and the largest political party leader Benazir Bhutto was also sent to heaven after addressing a rally in Rawalpindi on Dec 27.

However, her tragic death, which not only shocked the nation but the entire world as well, could not overshadow the brutalities meted out to the political workers in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Charsadda.

The growing tension arising from a series of terrorist activities in tribal and settled areas particularly in South and North Waziristan, Bajaur, Mohmand agencies, Swat, Mardan, Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi and even in Afghanistan, has direct bearing on the Pakistani elections.

The elections for which the western powers are insisting to be free and fair, has become a constant headache for the country's military ruler President Pervez Musharraf, who breached the Constitution and fired top judiciary through unconstitutional manners, may also take another extreme step to sabotage the poll process if he senses the things were not going in his favor.

Fears of a crushing defeat in the upcoming elections have made the future of military ruler and his supporters PML-Q, MQM uncertain amid sliding popularity, and they want to derail the poll process or somehow delay it further; a similar situation which in 1971 led to the disintegration of the country.

The embattled president can not refuse from holding the elections openly nor can he hand over the government to an opposition party if not ready to work with him after the elections. While, massive rigging in the elections would further mount international pressure and criticism against Musharraf.

The pre-rigging allegations had already doubted the credibility of the upcoming general elections in Pakistan. The PPP likely to grab huge sympathetic vote in the elections intensifying the evil designs of pro-Musharraf parties to rig the process what they did in previous elections to reach the parliament.

In this situation, Musharraf and his friends have been left with no option but to terrify the people through suicide attacks and target killings of opposition leaders and their supporters.

On the other hand, the MMA, also facing visible internal rifts after 2002 general elections, endorsed all the amendments to the Constitution and also agreed to form

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