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GUEST: Ali Ahsan, Pakistani lawyer and son of leading dissent lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan

As upcoming parliamentary elections approach in Pakistan, two former Prime Ministers are divided whether to participate or boycott them. Benazir Bhutto has said that her Pakistan People’s Party will take part in the January 8th elections under protest while reserving the right to ultimately boycott them. Nawaz Sharif, who recently returned to Pakistan after being deported, has decidedly called upon all political parties to boycott parliamentary elections. As of this morning Sharif has been barred from running because of a prior conviction. Meanwhile, as the Pakistani President began his controversial third term, Pervez Musharraf resigned as chief of the army last week. Following his departure from the military, Musharraf has also announced that the state of emergency he declared on November 3rd of this year will be lifted on December 16th. Aitzaz Ahsan, the first person to be imprisoned under Pakistan’s state of emergency, plans to run for office despite the fact that he feels the process will most likely be rigged. Many believe that Ahsan’s legal challenge to Musharraf’s third presidential term was the true cause of the state of emergency.