Pakistan Ruling Party Dealt Knockout Blow

The Age

Wednesday February 20, 2008

Matt Wade, Islambad

PAKISTAN'S ruling party has been routed in the country's general election.

This paves the way for a new government made up of former opposition parties that may try to impeach President Pervez Musharraf, a key Western ally in combating terrorism.

No party is likely to take an outright majority in the new National Assembly but an anti-Musharraf coalition involving the Pakistan People's Party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and others are in talks about forming the next government.

Fears of massive ballot rigging seem to have been unfounded. Pakistan Election Commission chief Qazi Muhammad Farooq pronounced the election free, fair and mostly peaceful.

The PPP, co-chaired by Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former leader Benazir Bhutto, is favoured to emerge with the most seats in the new parliament but the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif also polled very strongly, especially in the densely populated state of Punjab.

While final results have not yet been announced, the Geo TV network predicted last night that the PPP and the PML(N) had so far together won 139 seats, more than half of the 272 seats available in the National Assembly.

Only about four in every 10 eligible voters cast a ballot in Monday's general election, according to Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, head of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency, an Islamabad-based non-governmental organisation that has monitored the election.

Other independent analysts estimate that less than 35% of 82 million voters participated.

There were reports of women being prevented from voting in parts of the North-West Frontier Province and rural Punjab. Even in big cities such as Lahore the turnout of women voters was low.

Neither Mr Zardari nor Mr Sharif stood for election in Monday's poll, but they have emerged as Pakistan's new kingmakers. The pair spoke by telephone early yesterday about forming a coalition government. According to local media reports, Mr Sharif offered to support the formation of a PPP government with conditions, one of which was the impeachment of Mr Musharraf. Mr Sharif is also believed to want Aitzaz Ahsan, a high-profile PPP lawyer under house arrest, to be nominated as prime minister.

Mr Sharif has also demanded that Pakistan's Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, sacked by Mr Musharraf last year and placed under house arrest, be reinstated.

The swing to the opposition has dealt Mr Musharraf a devastating political blow. His "king's party", the Pakistan Muslim League (Q), has lost a swag of seats.

An alliance of Islamist parties called the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, which has supported Mr Musharraf, also polled poorly and lost several seats to more mainstream parties.

At least 25 people were reported killed in election-related violence on Monday .

© 2008 The Age

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