Islamabad - Polls opened Monday for Pakistan's crucial parliamentary elections amid fears of violence and rigging by the backers of embattled President Pervez Musharraf. While Musharraf isn't running, the vote is seen as a referendum on his rule, and 80 million registered voters could decide the future of the retired Army general who is a key ally in the US-led fight on terrorism.
Election-related violence began even before the polls opened with one candidate from the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz shot to death late Sunday. Militants also blew up a polling station in the Shakardara district of the strife-torn Swat Valley early Monday.
Pakistan has a history of election fraud and violence, and local television news channels were reporting low voter turnout in the early minutes of election day.
The polls for both national and provincial parliaments are meant to bring a return of civilian government after more than eight years of military rule under Musharraf, but they have been marred by the December 27 assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
