Pakistanis brave violence to vote in key election

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Pakistanis defied bombings and shootings yesterday to vote in critical parliamentary elections that will decide the political fate of key US anti-terrorist ally President Pervez Musharraf.

The polls were intended to complete the transition to civilian democracy after eight years of military rule, but took place in the shadow of surging violence including the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

Western allies will be closely watching the result of the polls in the nuclear-armed Islamic nation — with opposition leaders vowing mass protests if rigging robs them of victory.

Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999 and stepped down as army chief in November, called for reconciliation after the vote and warned all parties to accept the outcome gracefully.

“Whosoever wins the polls, as president of Pakistan, I will function with them in a totally harmonious manner,” Musharraf told state television after he cast his vote in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Officials said 14 people were killed and 100 injured in violence that began on the eve of the vote. Security fears were believed to have kept many voters at home, despite the presence of 80,000 troops on the streets.

Voting picked up after a slow start and the turnout three hours before the polls closed at 5:00 pm (1200 GMT) stood at about 35 percent of Pakistan’s 81 million eligible voters, a senior electoral official told AFP.

The first results were expected after 10:30 pm with the overall picture set to emerge on Tuesday.

The government banned exit polls.

Musharraf faces possible impeachment if the vote brings in a parliament packed with his foes, and even if he heads off that threat he would find his power further curtailed if the opposition wins a majority.

The former general is viewed by the United States as its key ally in the fight against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants based in Pakistan’s tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan.

Opinion polls have tipped Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to win, followed by the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, with the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) trailing in third place.

“I am not afraid of bomb blasts… I am far less courageous than Benazir Bhutto but I would be ready to die to achieve her mission,” Sakina Bibi, a 60-year-old supporter of the slain politician, told AFP in the southern city of Karachi.

But opposition leaders have alleged a campaign of “massive rigging” in favour of Musharraf’s allies, who could also find support from their feudal connections in rural Pakistan.

Benazir Bhutto’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari, predicted that the PPP would win.

“Victory is our destiny and we will change the system,” he said as he cast his vote in the southern city of Nawabshah.

Sharif said, as he voted in the eastern city of Lahore, that the PML-Q “is committing rigging, and they are attacking our candidates and supporters.”

A candidate from Sharif’s party who was standing in provincial elections that were also being held Monday was among five people shot dead late Sunday in Lahore. Another Sharif supporter was killed on Monday.

Security officials said a total of 14 people died over the two days.

At least eight bombs exploded in Pakistan’s insurgency-hit northwest and southwest but caused no casualties, officials said. A rocket also hit a polling station in the south of the country.

Nine of the deaths came on election day itself while five died in a shooting on the eve of polling in the country’s political hub Lahore, the capital of populous Punjab province, they said.

On Monday, six people died in shootings in Punjab between rival party supporters, officials said. Two others died in the southern province of Sindh and one death was reported in the northwestern region of Karak.

A security official said about 100 people were injured in election violence on polling day.

Opposition parties say a low turnout caused by fears of violence would make vote fraud even easier but many Pakistanis said they were determined to cast their ballots anyway.

“I am scared because of all the bombings but I am sure Allah will protect me and all the people voting today,” Saima Zahoor, a housewife clad in an all-covering burka, told AFP in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Campaigning ended grimly on Saturday when a suicide car bomber ploughed into a meeting of Benazir Bhutto’s supporters in the northwestern tribal town of Parachinar, killing 47 people and wounding more than 100 others.

More than 90 people died in bombings during the week leading up to the vote.

The attacks highlighted the Pakistani military’s ongoing struggles in the tribal belt, which has been branded by US officials as a “safe haven” for al-Qaeda militants.

Musharraf and the US Central Intelligence Agency have accused a top al-Qaeda militant based in the region of masterminding Bhutto’s assassination.

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