President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday said that he has issued orders to security forces to shoot anyone who tries to disrupt Pakistan’s upcoming general election. Musharraf, who has repeatedly said in the past few weeks that he will not allow any protests or agitations during the February 18 parliamentary polls, said at a function here that he had asked law enforcement agencies to ensure that the elections are peaceful. He said “shoot-at-sight” orders had been issued to the Pakistan Rangers and other security forces being deployed to maintain law and order during the polls.Speaking to businessmen in Karachi, the country’s commercial capital, Musharraf said the government would not allow riots to occur again. Musharraf said “everything will be correct” during the upcoming elections and that he has invited international observers to oversee the process, but added, “Must I prove that elections are not rigged? How can I?”The elections are meant to complete a transition to civilian rule and allies of nuclear-armed Pakistan hope that polls will promote stability after months of political turmoil and rising militant violence. The elections for the lower house National Assembly and assemblies in Pakistan’s four provinces were postponed from January 8 after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on December 27. Nearly 50 people were killed in rioting after her murder, most in her home province of Sindh.Meanwhile, Pakistan government on Tuesday urged opposition leaders to refrain from holding rallies ahead of elections, citing an escalating terrorist threat. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s political party immediately rejected the government’s recommendation, accusing authorities of trying block his party’s campaign to topple Musharraf.The political squabble comes in the aftermath of the assassination of Bhutto, whose Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is expected to emerge as the largest in the country’s parliament following the elections.Musharraf said he was “quite reasonably sure” about who killed Bhutto, “because we have tapped the telephones of militant extremists.” He maintained that the PPP leader was warned about threats to her life “but she decided differently”. He, however, he ruled out a UN probe into the killing, saying “What does the UN have to do with this? There is a killing and we will investigate ourselves.”On whether he considers himself a possible next target of assailants, Musharraf, who has survived two assassination attempts, said “Shots either hit you or they do not”. “I have been lucky that the would-be assassins did not get me. But I also take measures and I know how to protect myself.”
