Pakistan's Scheduled 2008 Election: Background (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Jan. 24, 2008 |
| Report Number |
RL34335 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
K. Alan Kronstadt, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
A stable, democratic, prosperous Pakistan actively working to counter Islamist militancy is considered vital to U.S. interests. Pakistan is a key ally in U.S.-led counterterrorism efforts. The history of democracy in Pakistan is a troubled one marked by ongoing tripartite power struggles among presidents, prime ministers, and army chiefs. Military regimes have ruled Pakistan directly for 34 of the country's 60 years in existence, and most observers agree that Pakistan has no sustained history of effective constitutionalism or parliamentary democracy. The United States has supported the government of President Pervez Musharraf, whose credibility and popularity have decreased markedly in 2007. The country is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections in February 2008.
In 1999, the elected government of then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted in a bloodless coup led by then-Army Chief Gen. Musharraf, who later assumed the title of president (in October 2007, Pakistan's Electoral College reelected Musharraf in a controversial vote). Supreme Court-ordered parlilamentary electionsâidentified as flawed by opposition parties and international observersâseated a new civilian government in 2002, but it remained weak, and Musharraf retained the position as army chief until his November 2007 retirement from that post. The United States urges restoration of full civilian rule in Islamabad, expecting the planned February 18, 2008, polls to be free, fair, and transparent. Such expectations became sharper after Musharraf's November 2007 suspension of the Constitution and imposition of emergency rule (nominally lifted six weeks later) and the December 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister and leading opposition figure Benazir Bhutto. Current political circumstances in Pakistan are extremely fluid, and the country's internal security and stability are under serious threat. Many observers urge a broad re-evaluation of U.S. policies toward Pakistan.
This report provides an overview of Pakistan's political setting and current status, along with a discussion of the country's major political parties and figures. See also CRS Report RL33498, Pakistan-U.S. Relations, and CRS Report RL34240, Pakistan's Political Crises. This report will not be updated.
