By Simon Denyer
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistanis voted on Thursday in the first general
election since General Pervez Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup, but
critics said that despite pledges to restore civilian rule he would retain
ultimate control.
Voting began slowly in the country's main cities in a poll contested by
83 parties -- including one widely seen as supporting Musharraf -- but
from which the exiled leaders of the political mainstream have been
excluded.
There was a little more activity in rural areas, with voters split
between several different parties.
"I won't tell you who I am voting for, but I'll vote for an honest
man," said banker Ghani Haider in the sprawling southern city of Karachi.
"Not all the politicians are bad, and I think this time people will vote
for a change."
Police said one man was shot and killed and two others wounded when
rival party supporters clashed at a polling station in the town of Moro,
around 300 km (200 miles) north of Karachi.
Police are guarding polling stations throughout Pakistan amid concerns
about violence from extremist Islamic groups. Security was particularly
tight in Karachi, with heavily armed paramilitary rangers patrolling
sensitive areas in jeeps.
Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, has been
fiercely criticized by political opponents and independent observers for
seeking to manipulate the poll in his favor to produce a compliant
342-seat national assembly.
But the voting process itself is expected to be fair, with at least 300
foreign observers from the European Union and the Commonwealth spread out
around the country.
HAND POWER OVER
Musharraf, who has become a key U.S. ally in the war on terror, has
promised to hand over full executive powers to the new prime minister, but
he says he will maintain a supervisory role with the power to dismiss
parliament.
Opinion polls showed a pro-Musharraf faction of the Pakistan Muslim
League, the PML(QA), was running neck and neck with the Pakistan People's
Party (PPP) of exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, one of
Musharraf's fiercest critics.
The election has failed to capture the public's imagination in a
country largely disillusioned with its political leaders and where turnout
was just 34.4 percent in the last elections in 1997.
"It is not worth voting," said Abdul Razzaq, a labourer from the
northern Swat Valley waiting for work on the streets of Islamabad. "We
used to get paid between 100 and 500 rupees ($1.70 to $8.50) to go home
and vote, but now no one is paying us anything."
In the eastern city of Lahore, the main streets were deserted and
several polling stations had recorded less than half a dozen votes in the
first two hours of polling. But activity in Lahore and other cities picked
up gradually as the morning wore on.
Voting appeared more brisk in rural areas. In Golra Sharif, just
outside Islamabad, people lined up enthusiastically to vote from early
morning outside a polling station in a local school.
"At this rate, we should see all 1,400 registered votes being cast by
mid-afternoon," said presiding officer Mohammed Qaiser, sitting in a
stuffy classroom.
In Rawalpindi, queues formed outside several polling stations as
officials took their time to seal the ballot boxes and open the stations,
to the frustration of many voters.
"If we had a religious government people would get up early to say
their prayers, and everything would start on time," said Bashir Ahmed. "It
is a lack of religion which is causing all this unpunctuality."
In Karachi, another early riser said he was also voting for one of the
small Islamist parties who have campaigned partly on their opposition to
Musharraf's role in the war on terrorism.
"Our people have tried political parties," said the bearded Mohammad
Shafqat. "Let us also give religious parties a chance."
In many parts of Pakistan's fiercely conservative tribal area bordering
Afghanistan, there were no women voting at all. Many had been forbidden
from voting by male family members, with the agreement of candidates and
tribal leaders, locals said.
Polls close at 5 p.m. (1200 GMT) and first results are expected late on
Thursday evening or early on Friday.
"A NEW DEMOCRATIC ERA"
Musharraf told the nation on the eve of polling it stood on the
threshold of a "new democratic era."
In an address broadcast on state television and radio, he urged voters
-- who make up about half the population of 140 million -- to "vote
diligently" and promised a free and fair election and a smooth transition
of power.
The poll coincides with renewed tension with traditional rival India
over Kashmir, over which the now nuclear-armed neighbors have fought two
of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.
Musharraf's enjoys broad support for his stance against corruption, and
for imposing political and economic stability after a decade of infighting
between the main parties which ended in his taking power from Nawaz Sharif
in 1999. But a series of constitutional amendments enhancing his powers
ahead of the poll have convinced many Pakistanis that he intends to
continue to run the country under the guise of civilian rule.
Musharraf handed himself the right to dissolve parliament,
institutionalized the military's role in politics through a National
Security Council and has effectively barred Bhutto and Sharif from
returning or ever becoming prime minister again.
The changes came hard on the heels of a widely criticized referendum
that extended his presidential term for five years.
The military, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its
55-year history, is accused of a systematic campaign to support the
PML(QA), dubbed the "King's Party."
Many people say a low turnout would favor the PML(QA), although it
might be seen as embarrassing for Musharraf if it was too far below the
1997 figure. The PPP is hoping to harness its traditional vote bank, many
of whom did not vote in 1997, and is thought to be hoping for a larger
turnout.
Many of the smaller, regional parties are expected to fall into line
behind the PML(QA) if its emerges as the strongest party and tries to form
a coalition government.
Six religious parties have formed a alliance to contest he polls, but
have never won more than a handful of votes in the past and are unlikely
to emerge as a significant force.
Pakistan
.gif)
