Today, Musharraf, who's been the object of several assassination attempts, had another brush with fate. As his entourage flew to Kashmir, one of his escort helicopters crashed, killing four. But an army spokesman ruled out foul play, blaming the crash on technical problems.

And for more, we turn to Steve Coll, president of the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think-thank in Washington. He's also a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine. He reported from South Asia for the Washington Post in the early 1990s. And, Steve, welcome back. ...

So after this summer of drama, Pervez Musharraf gets himself re-elected still in his army uniform. How significant an event is this?

STEVE COLL: I think it's quite significant, because it lights a path to the possibility of at least a partial democratic transition over the next couple of months. About a month ago, it was uncertain whether the negotiations that had taken place during the summer between President Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto would yield such a transition. Now his re-election, assuming it's ratified by the Supreme Court, suggests that transition is underway.

MARGARET WARNER: But if all the opposition members, or virtually all of them, boycotted this, and it was in the parliament, how reflective would you say this re-election is of the will of the Pakistani people?

STEVE COLL: Not very at all, and it wasn`t even a direct election, of course. It was an indirect election through a franchise of assembly members. But the question now is whether those parties that boycotted this particular event will return to the field to participate in the truly national elections that seem to be ahead. Those are popular elections, where there`s at least the promise of pretty vigorous competition.

MARGARET WARNER: The legislative ones?

STEVE COLL: Legislative and provincial, national and provincial.

MARGARET WARNER: Now, the Supreme Court, as we said, it`s holding back on certifying this election. How likely is it that they would nullify it at this point?

STEVE COLL: Well, it seems unlikely that they would nullify it entirely, but if they do -- and, of course, they`ve proven to be quite an independent body over the course of this year, and they might generate another surprise -- but even if they reject this outcome, they`re likely to set a course that would encourage or permit Musharraf to retain the presidency until the national elections are completed, and then, perhaps, be re-elected by the new assembly. So this would muddy the waters that are already muddy enough. But it wouldn`t necessarily create a dramatic event in this transition that now seems well underway.

MARGARET WARNER: Now, Musharraf has promised to take off this uniform before he takes on his new term, but he has made similar promises before and not kept them. What reason is there to think he will keep this promise?

STEVE COLL: Well, he started to put a transition in place in the army leadership; that`s the most important evidence. He`s promoted two significant allies within the senior ranks of the Pakistan army, one to succeed him as chief of army stuff, another to run the country`s very powerful intelligence service. So he`s setting the stage. Will he follow through? I think he`s still waiting for the Supreme Court to send a signal as to whether or not this election, that he believes is completed, is, in fact, legitimate.

MARGARET WARNER: And so play that out. How would that affect his decision to take off the uniform?

STEVE COLL: I think, if the Supreme Court says this election isn`t legitimate, you have to wait for the next assembly, it might slow down the pace at which takes off the uniform. He might postpone this decision. He certainly, I think, would feel that he had been absolved of his promises if the Supreme Court overturned the election. ...

For the complete transcript, or to listen to the audio, please visit PBS.org.