Lobbyists, Democrats pressure Bush, Pakistan government for fair elections

This is the first time in Pakistani electoral history i've seen such an organized campaign to get someone out of office. Bhutto has her work cut out for herself, but it also seems odd that she is sleeping with the very enemy she seeks to do away with.

I've copied some salient lines below, and the article gives some good background info as well.

"Lobbyists for a Pakistani opposition party are urging top Democrats to press the Bush administration and President Pervez Musharraf to promote free and fair elections in Pakistan this year.

Under contract with the Pakistan People’s Party, led by former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, lobbyists with BKSH & Associates have made dozens of contacts with Capitol Hill, the State Department and think tanks around Washington.

“Our key message has not wavered: Robust U.S. support for free and fair, internationally monitored elections in Pakistan remains critical, as does U.S. support for the safe return and participation of opposition candidates,” a BKSH director, Lisa Cotter Colangelo, said.

Her firm has earned more than $80,000 since January for its work on behalf of Bhutto’s party, according to records filed with the Justice Department.

Led by Cotter Colangelo, who has more than 15 years of experience in representing foreign opposition parties, BKSH is using its partners to help Bhutto’s party.

BKSH’s affiliate, Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, has worked on polling research for the party.

Parent company Burson-Marsteller LLC is handling an extensive media campaign, with the former Coalition Provisional Authority’s communications director in Iraq, Robert Tappan, taking the reins.

Lobbyists have handed out several op-eds critical of Musharraf, including columns by Bhutto and an editorial by The New York Times, entitled “Propping up the General.”