There's no mistaking the fact that Pakistan is in deep turmoil. In one week alone, suicide bombers killed 25 people at a rally in the northwest and nine more in an attack on a political candidate in a tribal area; a roadside blast targeting a political candidate killed two others; two officials from the country's Atomic Energy Commission were murdered; and the country's ambassador to Afghanistan was kidnapped, supposedly by the Taliban.

Unfortunately, in the wake of the assassination of its former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who had returned to Pakistan in a U.S.-backed power-sharing deal, the violence will likely increase leading up to the country's parliamentary elections on Monday.

The stakes are incredibly high for the United States, the European Union and a host of other countries with a deep interest in seeing a stable Pakistan. As a matter of geography alone, it's easy to understand the importance of Pakistan - a country of 165 million that borders Iran, Afghanistan, India and China. Add to that the grip that the Taliban and al-Qaida have on the region, and the need to ensure fair elections should be clear.

But the signs are far from encouraging. Violence prompted the only U.S. group planning to monitor the elections to cancel its plans. Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf continues to stifle media criticism of his government. And the assumption that Musharraf loyalists will rig the elections has prompted warnings of violence in the streets from opposition party leaders.

A team of election monitors from the European Union and Pakistani civic organizations are positioning themselves to monitor the elections and the vote counting. If politically inspired violence is to come to an end, confidence in Pakistan's election system must be restored. The U.S. and other nations must do all that is possible to let Musharraf know - in no uncertain terms - that the world is watching to see that Pakistan's elections are fair and free of intimidation and corruption, and that he will be held accountable.