ISLAMABAD -- Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, is set to position himself for a five-year term following Tuesday's referendum, but questions are mounting over his ability to give much needed stability to South Asia's second-largest country. Pakistan remains under the global spotlight not only because it has a nuclear-arms capability but, more importantly, because it plays a key role in the United States-led war on international terrorism.
For weeks, Pakistan's state-owned media have given extensive publicity to Musharraf's campaign during which he has crisscrossed the country to preside at public meetings. Large banners, including many from politicians with an otherwise limited political profile, appear at prominent spots in large cities, squarely backing the general.
Although Pakistan's main political parties have promised to boycott the referendum, Musharraf appears determined to press ahead. It's obvious that the man who seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1999 is leaving nothing to chance. Since the referendum does not allow other candidates to contest, it is, for all intents and purposes, a single-candidate presidential election.