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Pakistani expats keep a tab on poll

According to unofficial results (the Supreme Court has stalled announcement of the officials results) and as announced by the state television, President Pervez Musharraf bagged 252 votes in parliament while his opponent Justice Wajihuddeen got only two votes, while three votes were rejected.

Not only the intellectual community, the common man has also been watching the poll closely. Said Shah Latif, a delivery van driver for a local bakery, “I have been following the recent politics in Pakistan quite closely. While driving around the city, I keep listening to the news so that I do not miss out on the latest. I am still a staunch supporter of General Musharraf and welcome his re-election. He has already done a lot for my country and for people like us. Hopefully, he will continue doing the same.”

Farooq Ansari, an office boy in a Dubai-based company, said he called his family members over phone yesterday and told them that Musharraf would win.

“I knew that he would win. Everybody around me discusses Pakistani politics. I also keep a tab on it. I don’t mind Musharraf’s re-election because I think Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif are as corrupt as him. For me, they are all the same.”

For Tajjudin, a labourer, however, paucity of time prevents him from following any political events.

“I called my family members back home a few days ago and they told me that there was a lot of unrest on the streets in the run-up to the elections. But, honestly, I do not know who was standing against whom. I know only about General Musharraf because everyone speaks about him.”

Tariq Khan, another driver, said, “We all (in the company) support General Musharraf not because he has done anything great to improve the country’s economy but because the other choice is between Benazir and Sharif, both of whom we do not want. We have been discussing and following the events and we knew that Musharraf would win.”

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