Questionable:

Pakistan is preparing for parliamentary elections Feb. 18, and the auguries for a fair vote could hardly be worse. Given Pakistan’s nuclear capability and its role (willing or not) as sanctuary for Al Qaeda and the Taliban, the US and many other countries share an interest in pressing President Pervez Musharraf for concrete protections against election fraud and voter intimidation.

Recent suicide attacks and assassinations have provoked fears about public safety, eliminating the mass rallies that are a staple of political campaigns. Although Musharraf has lifted a ban on most private TV channels, his subsequent imposition of a restrictive code of conduct has stifled criticism of his government.

Musharraf, a retired army chief, commonly boasts that his military colleagues can be counted on to guarantee order and stability in Pakistan. This is the time for Musharraf to show that the Pakistan Army can protect voters and election monitors throughout the country. A team of monitors from

the European Union is in Pakistan now, and independent Pakistani civic groups are hoping to station observers at polls in all the country’s 272 voting districts. If the army protects monitors and the monitors verify an honest election, the struggle for power in Pakistan can be decided in the voting booth, not in the streets. — The Boston Globe