The harsh words exchanged during the recent American primaries have exemplified high decorum compared to the no-holds barred Pakistani election brawl. Accusations and counter-accusations, demonstrations and violence feature in this campaign, postponed from January 8th to February 18th after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. Election geeks compare the number of times “murder,” “terrorism” and “dictator” appear in the (lengthy) speeches of many opposition leaders with the frequency of President Pervez Musharraf’s pet phrases: “I saved Pakistan,” “gave it an economic revival,” and made it “dynamic and progressive.”
On Monday, during eight days of glad-handing round Europe meeting leaders including Gordon Brown, Musharraf spoke in London of having removed “bugs” from the system, claiming his government was defeating extremism.
Yet in the past week alone, gunmen, armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and Kalashnikov assault rifles, kidnapped 200 school children in the tribal area of the North West Frontier Province. Two decapitated policemen were found in the same region, where the military is reporting an upsurge in heavy fighting with insurgents at the Afghan border.
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