ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 11 (Friday) -- For the first time since a
military coup three years ago, Pakistanis voted Thursday in general
elections hailed by President Pervez Musharraf as the beginning of a new
democratic era. Early returns this morning showed a surprisingly strong
performance by hard-line religious parties opposed to Pakistan's role in
the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
In general, however, enthusiasm for the balloting was muted at best, as
many Pakistanis dismissed the exercise as little more than window dressing
for continued military rule.
Filing into schools and other polling places, voters cast their ballots
for four provincial assemblies and the 342-seat National Assembly, which
was dissolved when Musharraf, then army chief of staff, ousted the
civilian elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless
coup in October 1999.
Turnout appeared to be low in Islamabad and many other towns and
cities, though there were exceptions in some districts -- particularly in
rural areas -- featuring close races among prominent candidates, according
to news agency reports and party officials.
A coalition of six hard-line religious parties, the United Action
Forum, did better than expected, gaining a clear majority in the contest
for the provincial legislature in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province
on the border with Afghanistan, the election commission said this
morning.
Running on a strong anti-American platform, the parties also showed
unexpected strength in the southern port city of Karachi and in southern
Punjab province. If the parties emerge as a significant force in the new
National Assembly, that could complicate Musharraf's efforts to lend
assistance to the United States in its hunt for the remnants of the
Taliban and al Qaeda.
In the past, religious parties have been a minor factor in Pakistani
politics, holding only a handful of seats in the last parliament. Before
the vote, diplomats predicted that the religious parties would win no more
than 20 seats at the national level. Party officials, however, had
predicted gains in the neighborhood of 35 to 40 seats. By early this
morning, the coalition had already won 14 seats, including one in
Islamabad, with only a smattering of results reported.
If the trend continues, the religious hard-liners could emerge as
partners in any coalition government resulting from the vote.
Elsewhere in the country, early returns appeared to be in line with
predictions of a close contest between the pro-government Quaid-i-Azam
faction of the National Muslim League and the Pakistan People's Party,
headed by exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. On the basis of
those returns, analysts today forecast a "hung parliament" that could
prove a significant headache for Musharraf, even if it is unlikely to pose
a direct challenge to his rule.
The voting was marred by scattered violence in which four people were
shot dead, according to Pakistani officials. Opposition leaders charged
that the government had sought to intimidate voters and dampen turnout in
some areas on behalf of pro-government candidates.
There was no independent confirmation of the allegations, and in
general the voting appeared to have been orderly, according to two foreign
election observers who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Overall things seem to have gone fairly smoothly," said one of the
observers, about 300 of whom, many from the European Union, were invited
by the government.
Based on reports from other observers, the source said, overall turnout
appeared to be about 35 percent, which is roughly in line with the last
parliamentary election, in 1997.
"It's just a formality," Faisal Aziz, 28, said Thursday of the vote he
planned to cast in Haripur, a farming and industrial center about an
hour's drive north of Islamabad.
It could be several weeks before the shape of the new parliament is
known, as newly elected lawmakers engage in horse-trading and
coalition-building.
Musharraf, casting his vote in the city of Rawalpindi near here, told
reporters that he expected a new prime minister to be sworn in by Nov. 1.
In a speech to the nation Wednesday night, Musharraf hailed the elections
as a major step toward the establishment of "real" and "sustainable"
democracy, something he said Pakistan has lacked under civilian
governments.
Dressed in his customary khaki uniform, Musharraf promised to transfer
"full executive powers" to the prime minister and abandon his current role
as chief executive.
But many Pakistanis wondered what that would mean in practice. Whatever
the outcome of the vote, Musharraf will retain the power to dismiss
parliament, fire the prime minister and override his cabinet on
constitutional changes he made by fiat over the summer.
At the same time, Musharraf has revamped electoral procedures in ways
calculated to eliminate his major political rivals, Sharif of the Pakistan
Muslim League and Bhutto. Both are in exile and face arrest on corruption
charges if they return to Pakistan. New decrees also bar candidates who do
not hold degrees from four-year colleges and those who have fallen behind
in paying their utility bills, a standard the European Union described in
a recent internal report as unique.
The political balance also has been affected by an anti-corruption
panel called the National Accountability Bureau. Opposition leaders
contend that the board has used its power selectively, overlooking
offenses by politicians who agree to join the Muslim League's
pro-government faction and sidelining those who do not. The panel is
chaired by an army general.
In Haripur Thursday morning, representatives of the Muslim League's
Quaid-i-Azam faction denied that their party had received any boost from
the government. "We are contesting on our own agenda, not Musharraf's,"
said Seth Mohammed Asmat, president of the party's local chapter. "But we
are the faithful of Pakistan, so he likes us."
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