The Pakistani president, general and “Daily Show” cutup has promised to hold elections a mere month after the constitutional deadline, but, as the Musharraf regime continues to arrest political rivals, whether anyone will be left to run against him is a different question altogether.

Los Angeles Times:

LAHORE, Pakistan — Under enormous pressure at home and abroad, President Pervez Musharraf pledged today to hold elections by mid-February, even as his security forces continued to throw his political opponents in jail.

Musharraf told Pakistani state media that national and provincial polls would take place by Feb. 15, a one-month extension of the constitutionally mandated deadline of Jan. 15. But he gave no date for when he would remove his uniform as army chief and become a civilian leader, a key demand of pro-democracy activists.

“I have been saying for the last few months that elections will be held on schedule,” Musharraf said after meeting with his National Security Council. “It was my commitment, and I am fulfilling it.”

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