Free and fair elections under General Musharraf wielding unlimited powers under the PCO are impossible. So the first step has to be a political consensus on forcing General Musharraf to resign followed by lifting of Martial Law albeit under the garb of emergency, reinstatement of the judiciary prior to November 3, 2007, removing all restriction on the media, and holding of an empowered APC to decide on the federal and provincial caretaker setups and an independent election commission.