The Hindu : Front Page : Benazir, Sharif parties forge ahead

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Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008
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Benazir, Sharif parties forge ahead

Nirupama Subramanian

Turnout in Pakistan election low; polling peaceful; no complaint by major parties of irregularities

— PHOTOS: AP, AFP

KEY PLAYERS: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf (left) casts his vote in the general elections in Rawalpindi on Monday, while Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Nawaz Sharif (centre) puts his vote in Lahore and Asif Ali Zardari, husband of the former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, casts his ballot at Nawabshah.

ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: As polling closed in Pakistan’s most-watched general elections on Monday and counting of votes got under way, cadres of the Pakistan People’s Party and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N) began taking out jubilant processions in anticipation of victory, while gloom descended on the Pakistan Muslim League (Q), the former ruling party and ally of President Pervez Musharraf.

Complete results will come in only on Tuesday but vote counts at individual polling stations were giving the PPP and the PML(N) leads over the PML (Q) at most places. Unlike in India, where votes for the entire constituency are counted in one place, in Pakistan counting is done at each polling station, which sends its results up to the returning officer.

Results available show that PML (Q) president Chaudhary Shujat Hussain is trailing by more than 10,000 votes in his Gujrat stronghold behind his PPP rival, Ahmed Mukhtar. As expected, PPP candidates were leading with huge margins in most constituencies in Sindh, while the Muttahida Qaumi Movement was leading in Karachi. The former Punjab Chief Minister, Pervez Elahi, contesting from Attock, is one of the few PML(Q) candidates leading.

The PPP was also leading in the Seraiki belt in southern Punjab, while the PML(N) was leading in most constituencies in the rest of Punjab.

In the North-West Frontier Province, the PPP and the Pakhtun nationalist Awami National Party were leading in many constituencies. ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan, grandson of “Frontier Gandhi” Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, was leading in Charsadda. The Jamat-e-Ulema Islami leader Fazlur Rehman was leading in Bannu but trailing in Dera Ismail Khan.

Contrary to widespread fears, the polling day passed off without any major untoward incident, and none of the major parties came up with any complaint of rigging or other irregularities. Sporadic incidents of violence and irregularities were reported from some places. Countrywide, 14 people were killed in election-related violence, some 100 injured and over 80 people arrested.

Despite a relatively peaceful day, the voter turnout was uniformly low throughout the country. The Election Commission did not release numbers, but media reports estimate that the turnout may have been lower than the 41 per cent in 2002.

General (retd.) Musharraf, along with his family, cast his vote in Rawalpindi, giving the assurance that he would function in a “harmonious manner” with whoever won the election. PPP leader Asif Zardari voted in his hometown Nawabshah in the Sindh province, while Mr. Sharif voted in Lahore, capital of the Punjab province.

“If there is no fraud in the election, we will accept the results,” Mr. Sharif said after casting his vote. This is the first election in which the leaders of the two main Opposition parties are not candidates.

In the capital’s twin city Rawalpindi, the mood among the PPP and PML (N) cadres was upbeat hours before polling ended. Young activists flashed the V sign as they took out motorcades on the city’s roads, and motorcyclists did aggressive wheelies outside Lal Haveli, home of the last Railways Minister, Sheikh Rashid, until police blocked the road leading to his house with a big truck.

Mr. Rashid, who has the reputation of not losing election in two decades, conceded that the PML (Q)’s chances and his own were adversely affected by the anti-Musharraf sentiment, but more by the shortage of wheat flour, gas and electricity last month.

But the former Minister said the PML (Q) could not be written off as the election would result in a hung Parliament, and his party would get a “reasonable and respectable” number of seats.

With the writing on the wall clear, PML (Q) general secretary Mushahid Hussain admitted that the government had committed “mistakes,” citing the sacking of the Chief Justice and the restrictions on the media.

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