Election hopeful Pervez Elahi at a rally earlier this month
By Sky News Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay in Pakistan
What constitutes five star treatment on the Pakistan election trail are a ride on a 40-year-old Russian helicopter that had been unable to take off an hour earlier and has its fuel tank on the inside (!) and later being passed a cold chicken burger mid-flight while the guy in front is quietly sick into a paper cup.
Not awfully pleasant but 20 shuddering minutes in the air is better than half a day by road.
It may not seem much, but that dodgy helicopter was ferrying one of President Musharraf's powerful political allies to his latest campaign stop.
It's a government helicopter but the campaigner being carried is not in the government.
In election terms being able to hit multiple campaign stops while your opponents can not certainly constitutes an unfair advantage.
The President's many political opponents say it is just one example of the government machine - literally in this case - being used to help his supporters in this bitter election.
My host, Pervez Elahi, wants to be the next Prime Minister.
Despite polls showing that his pro-Musharraf PML-Q Party could be trounced in the election, he insists they will win or at the very least do very well.
"Nobody believes those polls," he told me back on Terra firma. "They [pollsters] sit in offices dreaming them up. They don't go to the countryside to see our support. We will sweep the board in Punjab, we will be judged on our record of the past five years and we will do well.
"We'd all like to be Prime Minster, let's see, let's hope," he chuckled as we climbed back on board.
Back in Lahore, capital of the Punjab province where more than half the population lives, hence its importance, I met up with another Prime Ministerial hopeful, Nawaz Sharif.
In the leafy confines of his palatial home, the multimillionaire businessman and former Prime Minister (Musharraf kicked him out) is quietly seething about recent events in Pakistan.
"Judges have been sacked, the Chief Justice put under arrest, Prime Ministers and the government can be removed at the whim of the President. He shouldn't be in office - he broke the constitution and changed the law," he said.
"Absolutely he will rig this election. If his party does better than ours and the PPP (Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples' Party) then there will be real troubles here," he warned.
We will only know if his dire predictions come true when the results come in.
If the chaos he and others, like former cricketer turned politician Imran Khan, have warned about do ensue, then the best the people can hope for is that the army will once again step in and keep the country together.
Hardly an attractive prospect, but it is a scenario that Pakistan is depressingly used to.
The country has existed for 60 years and in that time there has been direct military rule here for 33 years.
Civilian rulers rarely last for long.
well the actual results have come through it was so obvious who would have succeeded with after everything that happened with benazir bhutto. i mean parvez elahi cannot even fluently speak professional english we cannot have such people running the country it is an embarasment to the wider community and these people live in masions while the poor live under haystacks and they come out when they need votes i mean how awful is that, but i just hope pakistand does pull through this hard situation and succeed in wiping out the terrorism and moralise itslef.
Posted by: aqil m 21 Feb 2008 15:30:21
Hey guys,
The results are up and now you can check the accuracy of the claims made by Mr. Pervaiz Elahi.... the wishing Prime Minister of Pakistan. Pakistani People are not stupid to elect stupids to rule over them. PML(Q) has been rejected by people of Pakistan by vast majority; even their President counld not win in his home town along with dozens of past ministers and big names like Sheikh Rashid, Pervaiz Elahi, Sher Afgan, Qasoori, Ch. Ameer Hussain, Ch. Ejaz.... long list of defeated pillars.
I think you people should ba ashamed of this. You should learn a leasson from this and sit home rest of you life to give a breathing space to Pakistani People.
Posted by: Mustafa Qazi, Islamabad 19 Feb 2008 10:20:58
we are waiting a strong leadership who they take to opurtunity to make a releaf to poor people and help them. and they give to independed to our justes and pakistan comes to a good name in whole world and make to storng and realation our others country.
Posted by: komailshah pakistan 18 Feb 2008 19:47:57
i hope whoever wins, will help bring the fish n chips prices down
Posted by: usman mahmood 18 Feb 2008 12:42:24
I am not surprised if Parvez ELahi is getting full support by Musharraf, as he and his party are the only people who were happy to keep Musharraf as presidents even in his uniform. It will be an embarrasment to have Parvez Elahi to represent Pakistan when he cant represent himself professionaly. Both Musharraf and Elahi group know they have no chance of survival if they dont support each other. As PML-N Nawaz Group and PPP have made clear statements that if they win Musharraf will not br re-elected as president.These elections will be massivly rigged to ensure that Elahi and Musharraf group members are elected. Its nothing but bad luck of Pakistan that selfish people like them will be elected to run our country. All its going to do is to take Pakistan at the verge of civil war and destroy its reputation in the eyes of international community. I pray to GOD to help pakistan in its survival.
Posted by: Umair UK 18 Feb 2008 11:41:03
He is the man who was nominated as a prime suspect by former slain prime minister of pakistan benazir bhutto in her letter to her friends in west in case of her assasination.
If he will become a prime minister of pakistan by the help of army,musharraf and massive election rigging, then i think no can save pakistan.
Posted by: junaid masood 18 Feb 2008 03:09:44
Pakistan, as you rightly suggets has a divien choice to make, civilian or otherwise. If leaders go about inciting such post election gatherings, then no doubt the [Odyssey] of many an election will be exasbarated. What the people of Pakistan need to consider is having looked at history, where the nation started and where it wants to go, are you [Going Back to My Roots] or moving forward towards the path your desired leader wants to take you to.
Insofar as law and justice, again it remains a matter of post election behaviour that will provide options for all to consider. Happy Voting.
Posted by: Khalid 17 Feb 2008 20:48:02