The opposition has pledged mass protests if Musharraf’s allies win the polls — while if his enemies seize control of parliament, the key U.S. ally in the “war on terror” faces impeachment.

Yet with Western officials looking beyond Musharraf to his replacement as army chief when it comes to security matters, fears that nuclear-armed Pakistan would be worse off without him could be unfounded.

“Musharraf is in a no-win situation,” Pakistani political analyst and newspaper columnist Shafqat Mahmood told AFP.

“But his ouster would not affect the war on terror, it might even be strengthened. A legitimate government will have popular support in the war on terrorism, which you do not have with Musharraf sitting there,” he said.

Musharraf stood down as chief of Pakistan’s 600,000-strong army in November, shortly after imposing a state of emergency and sacking the judiciary to push through his contested re-election as president.

The army has shown no sign of open dissent against its former leader, but new military supremo Ashfaq Kayani has reversed Musharraf’s policy of involving the military in politics by withdrawing officers from civilian roles.

The taciturn, chain-smoking Kayani is widely respected in Western circles and is seen as a safe bet to pursue Pakistan’s difficult campaign against al-Qaida and Taliban militants.

Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna, the author of “Inside al-Qaida: Global Network of Terror,” said there was no likelihood of any rollback in Pakistan’s commitment.

“Whosoever comes to power, Pakistan’s military and intelligence community will play the lead role in fighting terrorism,” Gunaratna, head of the Singapore-based International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, told AFP.

“Musharraf is the architect of Pakistan’s policy in fighting terrorism and extremism but this fight will continue even if he is not in power, because it is the biggest threat the country faces today,” he said.

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