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."
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
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