Pakistan's elections will be viewed as "totally discredited" if the party backing President Pervez Musharraf is declared victorious, an influential US senator on foreign affairs said Monday. Such election results would also trigger riots and raise questions over the stand of the powerful military, said Senator Joseph Biden, who observed polling in Lahore, the second largest city in Pakistan and the country's political hub.
SUCH ELECTION RESULTS WOULD ALSO TRIGGER RIOTS AND RAISE QUESTIONS OVER THE STAND OF THE POWERFUL MILITARY, SAID SENATOR JOSEPH BIDEN: Biden, a leading voice on international issues for the Democratic Party, said that his initial assessment showed people were encouraged to come out and vote without much violence but ultimately, he pointed out, it would depend on the poll result, whether there was an escalation of violence and how the military would act.
"If Musharraf's party beats all odds and ends up being the winner here, I think it will be viewed as a totally discredited undertaking," Biden, the head of the powerful Senate foreign relations committee, told the American broadcasting network CNN.
"And then I think you'll see some movement in the streets here. And the question will be whether or not the military moves on the population. My overwhelming instinct is the military does not, does not, want a confrontation with the population," he said.
An indication of the overall result is set to emerge Tuesday. The government has banned exit polls. Biden is accompanied by Democratic Senator John Kerry and Republican Senator Chuck Hagel in observing the polls. They will meet Musharraf on Tuesday.