It’s hard to imagine a presidential election drama in America as extraordinary as that taking place at Pakistan, where elected federal and provincial lawmakers over the weekend gave President Musharraf a resounding vote of confidence in his bid for a new five-year term. The president’s victory was marred by the boycott of the vote by most of the opposition parties, who actually resigned seats so as to underscore their wholesale rejection of the process and not merely of the individual candidature. Imagine if Bush v. Gore had bothered the Democrats in Congress enough to make such a protest.

National Assembly delegates from the party led by exiled ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto, split over whether to resign. They compromised by keeping their seats but abstaining from the vote. This comes because of the belief that Mrs. Bhutto, scheduled to end her exile and return home on October 18, will win legislative elections to be held in early 2008. Their hope is that she will end up serving as Mr. Musharraf’s prime minister. It is also the outcome favored in Washington, because it combines the appeal of Mr. Musharraf as the pro-American leader of the armed forces with Mrs. Bhutto’s appeal as a relatively pro-western liberal.

Mrs. Bhutto’s challenge will be to overcome the stigma attached to her for having, in effect, offered Mr. Musharraf a way out of the corner into which he had been backed. She will argue that she helped put the civilian parties back in control of the government. As part of the unfolding cooperation between the two elders, Mr. Musharraf late last week enacted a measure granting Mrs. Bhutto an amnesty on corruption charges, easing her way back from exile. But Mr. Musharraf is not home free. His win remains tentative because it is being stayed by a Supreme Court yet to rule on opposition motions that Mr. Musharraf should not have bee able to seek a third term while continuing to serve in uniform as Commander in Chief of the armed forces.

Mr. Musharraf has said that if his election holds up, he will shed the uniform before his current term expires on November 15. It is unlikely that the Court will rule against him owing to the threat of political violence and the possibility Mr. Musharraf might turn around and declare martial law. This would suspend the steps toward a democratic restoration. The Court resumes hearing on the anti-Musharraf petitions on Oct. 17 — one day before Mrs. Bhutto’s scheduled return. Political drama doesn’t get better outside of the Globe Theater. William Shakespeare, call your office.

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All this is of great moment to Americans because of Pakistan’s role in the war against Islamist extremism. Within Pakistan, the war is not going well. This is confirmed in recent reports by the Council on Foreign Relations, which found large parts of the country beyond government control as Al Qaeda and Taliban forces have expanded their influence and operations, and by the Washington-based research institute, Terror Free Tomorrow, which released a survey showing that three quarters of Pakistanis oppose American military action against Al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan.

Islamabad’s military intelligence, the ISA, created the Taliban in the hope of getting a pro-Pakistan Sunni government in Kabul. Mr. Musharraf’s alliance with America against the Taliban and Al Qaeda is not popular below the top ranks (and among retired veterans from within the top ranks). Following 9/11, Mr. Musharraf fired the ISI leadership and replaced it with loyalists, including the current chief, Lieutenant General Kayani, who has been selected to succeed Mr. Musharraf’s as chief of staff should he shed the uniform.

The terror free tomorrow survey found that, in terms of popularity in Pakistan, Mr. Musharraf trails Osama bin Laden by a sizeable margin. The president has a 38% favorable rating against 53% unfavorable, while 46% of Pakistanis have a favorable view of Mr. bin Laden against only 26% unfavorable. At the same time, the leaders of the two most important civilian democratic parties, Mrs. Bhutto and another former prime minister, Mr. Nawaz Shareef, whose return from exile last month was blocked at the airport by Mr. Musharraf, have favorable ratings of 63% and 57% respectively. The right move for an American administration is to place its bet on democracy while sustaining a pro-American policy in the army barracks.