Democracy offers Pakistan the best hope of confronting Islamic extremists and rampant public corruption. That remains true after the assassination last week of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. But the shooting and suicide bombing perpetrated by extremists opposed to moderation and tolerance have cast doubt over the parliamentary election set for next Tuesday to return the country to civilian rule after nine years of military dictatorship.
It now seems certain that, for security reasons, the election will be postponed after consultation with the political parties involved. An announcement is expected from the election authorities today. Widespread rioting and unrest triggered by Bhutto's death have left the administrative infrastructure weakened, with polling stations damaged and electoral rolls burned. Concerns that an election held now would be flawed are legitimate.
Officials are now talking of a February poll. It should be held no later. The nation of 165 million faces an increasingly serious threat to the unity of its federation, with al-Qaeda and the Taleban continuing to make alarming gains, and separatist undercurrents gaining strength in the provinces of Baluchistan, Northwest Frontier and Sindh, home base of the Bhutto family. A postponement has positives and negatives. It will give Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party time to regroup under her husband and son, co-chairman and chairman respectively. It also gives Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his military supporters time to undermine them.
The decision by Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League, to drop his election boycott is welcome. It will take more than elections, however, to bring true democracy to Pakistan. Mr Musharraf must fully restore the constitutional guarantees taken away during the recent state of emergency, including an independent judiciary, the rule of law and a free press. Senior military and civilian officials must no longer remain above the law and immune from prosecution. The opposition parties should insist on it. And so should the United States, as banker to Mr Musharraf in return for his support in the so-called war on terror.
