Low turnout in Pakistan elections

A low voter turnout on Monday marked Pakistan's parliamentary elections, held under the shadow of violence amid predictions that main opposition parties will score a victory that will loosen President Pervez Musharraf's hold on power.

No official figures about the turnout were available, but observers said it would be less than the 42 per cent recorded in the 2002 polls. A large number of people went to polling stations in the final hours before the voting ended at 5 pm (5.30 IST) to exercise their franchise.

Though the fear of violence loomed large over the elections to the national and four provincial assemblies, the process was largely peaceful in most parts of the country, barring stray incidents of violence involving workers of political parties in Sindh and Punjab provinces, and sporadic militant attacks in the northwestern areas.

At least six people were killed in Punjab province, the political heartland of Pakistan, in political clashes. One person was killed in a bomb blast in Quetta while another died in a clash at Mansehra in North West Frontier Province.

Militants in the restive northwestern areas attacked polling stations with bombs and rockets, though there were no casualties, officials said.

There were also reports of people being intimidated and prevented from voting in some places.

At Badin in Sindh, some persons allegedly snatched polling materials and forcibly stamped ballots. At Bannu in NWFP, militants kidnapped some poll officials.

A large number of women exercised their franchise in urban and rural areas, particularly in Punjab.

Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Farooq Muhammad ruled out the possibility of nullifying the polls due to low turnout. He said there was no legal provision for ordering a re-poll in the event of a low turnout.

Wary about possible attacks, many voters kept away from polling stations in the first few hours after balloting began at 8 am (8.30 IST). By 10 am local time, a turnout of about 30 per cent was reported at polling stations in urban centres like Islamabad and Lahore. Some parts of Islamabad and Rawalpindi recorded turnouts of over 50 per cent.

However, in parts of North Western Frontier Province, Balochistan and the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, which witnessed widespread violence during the campaign, very few people voted despite the extensive security arrangements made for the crucial polls.

Hours before the polls, the southern Balochistan province was rocked by a series of 20 blasts while a PML-N candidate and three other persons were gunned down in two incidents of violence in the central city of Lahore. Suspected militants also blew up a polling station in the restive Swat valley in northwestern Pakistan.

The Election Commission terminated polling in two provincial assembly constituencies in North West Frontier Province, including one in Swat. Polling was also put off in the northwestern city of Parachinar, where a suicide bombing on the last day of campaigning on Saturday killed 49 people.

Over 81 million voters were eligible to take part in the polling. Hundreds of foreign observers, including those from the European Union and India, kept a close eye on the polls and there were no allegations of rigging from major leaders.

Former premier and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, however, claimed the government had given a 'free hand' to certain elements that had targeted his party workers. The counting of votes began immediately after the end of balloting and the first results are expected to begin coming in late Monday night.

Opposition parties like slain former premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and PML-N had earlier warned that they would launch street protests if they are denied victory in the polls through rigging.

Musharraf, who could face possible impeachment if the opposition secures a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly and unites against him, pledged to work with whoever won the polls and said he was committed to national reconciliation.

As part of the strict security arrangements, the government deployed 81,000 troops and nearly 400,000 police personnel to provide security to the more than 64,000 polling stations, a third of which have been declared sensitive.

Recent opinion polls have shown that a majority of Pakistanis fear the polling would not be free and fair. The surveys also predicted that the PPP and PML-N are likely to emerge the two largest groups with the PML-Q in a distant third place.

PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Sharif are expected to meet on Tuesday to decide their future course of action once it was clear that the polls were rigged, sources in their parties said.

Zardari has said that he would be willing to enter a power-sharing arrangement with the PML-N, but he has also not ruled out the possibility of working with Musharraf. Sharif, on the other hand, has ruled out any possibility of cooperating with Musharraf, who deposed him in 1999 in a bloodless coup.