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Pakistanis vote in parliamentary poll

Pakistanis voted for a new parliament yesterday in a key step toward democracy after eight years of military rule under Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, whose political future hung in the balance. But fear of militant attacks and apathy after a lackluster campaign appeared to keep turnout low.

Musharraf promised to work with the new government regardless of who won the vote, after a year of turmoil that has seen an explosion in Taliban militancy and growing public disaffection with Pakistan's support of the US-led "war on terror."

"I will say from my side, whichever political party will win, whoever will become prime minister and chief ministers, congratulations to them on my behalf. And I will give them full cooperation as president whatever is my role," the president told state television.

Some 81 million Pakistanis were eligible to vote for new national and provincial assemblies. Voting was due to end at 5pm, but it could take another two days for complete results.

More than 470,000 police and soldiers were deployed nationwide to provide security after a wave of suicide bombings, including the Dec. 27 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto that forced a six-week delay in the vote. A bomb over the weekend also left 46 dead near the Afghan border.

Violence between rival political factions in the key province of Punjab has killed at least nine people and wounded dozens more since Sunday night, including a provincial assembly candidate from the opposition party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, officials said.

Musharraf's political allies were widely forecast to lose their grip over parliament, amid public antipathy over his recent declaration of emergency rule and purging of the judiciary to safeguard his controversial re-election as president in October.

An overwhelming victory by the opposition coalition, headed by Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), would leave Musharraf politically vulnerable, even at risk of impeachment.

"It is the fate of the Pakistan People's Party that it will win and we will change the system after winning," said Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari after casting his vote in his hometown of Nawab Shah.

Opposition politicians have accused the government of planning to rig the balloting and have threatened street protests.

Musharraf, who recently ceded his command of Pakistan's powerful army, has warned he would not tolerate such protests, which could set the stage for a dangerous confrontation.

Before casting his vote in the city of Rawalpindi, he urged candidates to accept results of the vote.

Turnout in many parts of the country appeared to be sluggish -- possibly below the 41 percent recorded in the last general elections.

At a polling station in Lahore, just 28 percent of the 2,740 registered voters had turned out, with just 90 minutes of voting to go.

"My vote is for the PPP," said Munir Ahmed Tariq, a retired police officer in Nawab Shah. "If there is rigging this time, there will be a severe reaction. This is a sentiment of this nation."
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