In August 2005, Pakistan held two-phase municipal-level elections in 110 districts. Althoughthe exercise ostensibly was a non-party affair, officials from the opposition Pakistan People's Partycomplained in July that President Musharraf was violating the code of conduct by urging voters tocast ballots for candidates favored by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League. Then, in a blow to thehopes of Islamist sympathizers, the Pakistan Supreme Court ruled that candidates with religiouseducation were ineligible to run in municipal elections unless they have studied English, Pakistanstudies, and Urdu. Islamist leaders criticized the ruling. (1) During the polling, tens of thousands of troops were deployed forsecurity purposes, yet scores of Pakistanis were killed and as many as 1,000 were injured inpoll-related violence around the country. Claims of widespread vote-rigging and women beingbarred from polling stations in the Frontier Province spurred Pakistan's major opposition parties --both secular and Islamist -- to issue a joint call for a national strike to protest President Musharraf's"military takeover," "dictatorial behavior," and "blatant rigging." Ensuing protests were onlymoderate in scale (with Quetta being an exception) and Information Minister Rashid called the strike"a total failure." (2) Candidates favored by Pakistan's ruling party appear to have fared quite well in all fourprovinces, and Muslim League gains were seen as a major boost for President Musharraf, who mayhave to rely on the ruling party to win the presidency in 2007. Musharraf expressed satisfaction with"a victory for the moderates" and "a defeat for the extremists." However, one Pakistani analystopined that the outcome would be unlikely to yield political harmony and had only exacerbated thesense of bitterness and alienation felt among opposition parties. Others warn that apparentirregularities could in fact harm Musharraf's image; a former Pakistani ambassador called the processa "typically vice-regal electoral exercise." Still, many non-Pakistani observers, especially those frominternational aid organizations such as the Asian Development Bank, see the local governancesystem as a bright spot in otherwise faltering efforts at Pakistani democratization. (3) In June 2005, the U.S. State Department's lead official for South Asia, Christina Rocca,reiterated for the House International Relations Committee the important role Pakistan continues toplay in assisting U.S.-led efforts to defeat terrorism, stabilize neighboring Afghanistan, and end thetransfer of nuclear weapons material and technologies. She noted that "Pakistan's government hastaken steps necessary ... to set it on the path of becoming a modern, prosperous, and democraticstate," but conceded "there's still a way to go" toward that goal. Calling democratization a "centralfocus" and one of the "top priorities" in U.S.-Pakistan relations, Secretary Rocca expressed a U.S.expectation that Pakistan's 2005 local and 2007 general elections "be free and fair throughout theentire process. ... [W]e believe that democracy, freedom, and rule of law are the best counters tohatred, extremism, and terrorism" (the State Department did not comment on ensuing reports ofirregularities in the August 2005 elections). Some Members in attendance expressed skepticismabout Pakistan's democratization under Musharraf, with one calling the country a "poster child forthe President's forward strategy of freedom." (4) On the political front, Pakistan's moderate, secular parties continued to face governmentalrepression. In April, in an effort to block a rally planned to welcome the return to Lahore of AsifZardari, the husband of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, police arrested thousands of activistsof the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and some senior party leaders, and blocked travelroutes around the city. When Zardari arrived in Lahore, he was placed in "protective custody" byauthorities (PPP members said he had been arrested). New York-based Human Rights Watch laterappealed to the Pakistani government to release the "thousands" of opposition PPP supporters whohad been arrested in nation-wide sweeps. (5) Meanwhile, the Islamist political coalition saw thousands of their supporters arrested duringlarge street protests and strikes against the Musharraf government; tens of thousands rallied inKarachi and Lahore in late March. Religious parties and others in Pakistan also were disturbed bya May story in Newsweek magazine report alleging that a copy of the Koran had been desecrated atthe U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay. The Islamabad government expressed "serious concern" toU.S. officials about the allegations and the U.S. State Department called any such desecration"deplorable and entirely inconsistent with American values of religious freedom and tolerance." Pakistan's National Assembly passed a resolution condemning the alleged desecration. (6) U.S. Policy. Pakistan, a strategically importantcountry that is home to one of the world's largest Muslim populations, has been a key cooperatingnation in U.S.-led counterterrorism efforts in South Asia. (7) On October 12, 1999, Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen.Pervez Musharraf replaced Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup. In the wake of themilitary overthrow of the elected government, Islamabad faced considerable internationalopprobrium and was subjected to automatic coup-related U.S. sanctions under section 508 of theannual foreign assistance appropriations act. The September 2001 terrorist attacks on the UnitedStates and Musharraf's ensuing withdrawal of support for the Afghan Taliban regime, however, hadthe effect of greatly reducing Pakistan's international isolation. Congress temporarily removedrestrictions, and large-scale U.S. aid to the country resumed, in the final months of 2001(coup-related sanctions are still in place; since March 2003 President Bush has exercised annuallythe one-year waiver authority on coup-related sanctions granted to him by Congress). The State Department's Country Reports on Terrorism 2004 characterized Pakistan as oneof the most important U.S. partners in the war on terrorism. While top-tier U.S. emphases in theregion after September 2001 have remained combating religious extremism and ending illicit nuclearweapons proliferation, the United States expresses a strong interest in the improvement of Pakistan'shuman rights situation, especially as regards the restoration and strengthening of the country'scivilian democratic institutions. There exists a debate among analysts over the exigency of thisissue. Some observers urge patience, contending that a "true" democratic system will require timeand that "military-guided" governance is required in an unstable setting and to deter extremistpolitical influences. Others argue that Pakistan's underdeveloped democracy and rule of law arethemselves a central cause of the country's instability. Some believe that Pakistan's Islamist forcesare manipulated by and at times in collusion with the military as it manages skewed civil-militaryrelations wherein moderate political parties play a decreasing role. A number of top U.S. diplomats,along with many in Congress, have called for more and accelerated development of Pakistanidemocracy. Some sections of legislation passed by the 108th Congress addressed this concern andpending legislation in the 109th Congress ( S. 12 ) contains Pakistan-specific languageregarding that country's governmental system. The United States now considers Pakistan to be a vital ally in the international anti-terrorismcoalition. The Bush Administration has refrained from expressing any strong public criticisms ofPakistan's internal political practices, while still asserting that the strengthening of civilian politicalinstitutions in Islamabad is "a requirement for the development of a stable, moderate Islamic state." The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development have identified"democratic stability in South Asia's frontline states" of Pakistan and Afghanistan as one of elevenkey democracy and human rights-related initiatives for the world in FY2006. (8) According to U.S.Ambassador to Pakistan Nancy Powell in August 2004, America wants to see strong Pakistani democraticinstitutions and practices, including a National Assembly, Senate, and Provincial Assemblies thatplay a vigorous and positive role in governance and an independent judiciary that promotes the ruleof law. We also would like to see Pakistan's civil society play an active role in governance. (9) In March 2005, while unveiling the Bush Administration's "new strategy for South Asia," anunnamed senior State Department official said, The goal, then, has to be a fully democratic,economically promising Pakistan that feels secure and is thus at peace with its neighbors, with thepreviously high tide of anti-Americanism and Islamist extremism gradually receding. (10) Since becoming Secretary of State in early 2005, Condoleezza Rice has made several statementsabout Pakistan's governance system, offering that trends in Pakistan were moving that country "inthe right direction," and insisting that the United States "will continue to press toward eventualelections and a full democratic process in Pakistan." During the lead-up to Pakistan's August 2005municipal elections, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Rocca told an interviewer, "A levelplaying field for [Pakistan's] local body elections, as well as for the election in 2007, is critical forthe elections to be free and fair" (the State Department did not comment on ensuing reports ofirregularities in the August 2005 elections). (11) The 9/11 Commission Report and CongressionalAction. The 9/11 Commission Report (released in July 2004) claims that -- evenafter acknowledging problems in U.S.-Pakistan relations and President Musharraf's role in them -- "Musharraf's government is the best hope for stability in Pakistan and Afghanistan."