Islamabad - Millions of Pakistanis were voting Monday in crucial parliamentary elections amid fears of violence and rigging by the backers of embattled President Pervez Musharraf. Initial turnout was low since voting began at 8 am, possibly due to fears of suicide bombings or other violence at polling stations. But many voters were expected not to cast ballots until the afternoon, after assessing the security situation.
Rifad Haziz, a local election official in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, some 15 kilometres from Islamabad, said her station had 1,100 registered voters but only 10 had shown up to cast ballots by mid-morning.
"It is mainly due to bomb threats," she said.
More than 80,000 Army soldiers were deployed across the country to provide security at polling stations, but election-related violence began even before the polls opened. One candidate from the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was shot dead late Sunday and Islamic militants also blew up a polling station in the Shakardara district of the strife-torn Swat Valley early Monday.
After voting began nationwide, a bomb exploded near a polling station in Inayat Kili in Pakistan's tribal areas, where Islamic militants have been carrying out a suicide bombing campaign. There were no casualties, DawnNews TV reported.
In other parts of the tribal areas, tribal elders were preventing women from voting. There were also reports of blank ballots going missing or being stolen from polling stations in Punjab province, the most highly-contested region in this election.
While Musharraf isn't running, the polls are 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 against terrorism.
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.
Pakistan has a history of election fraud and violence.
"I'm not afraid of anything," said voter Faeeda Abbasi, 32, as she stood in line at a polling station in Rawalpindi. "Life and death are in God's hands. When Benazir was not frightened, why would I be?"
Abbasi said inflation and unemployment were the two main issues for her in the election, and she complained about having to wait in line for hours to buy flour, cooking oil and other staple goods from government-run stores because the prices were lower.
"We are voting for these (opposition) parties because we believe that these parties are going to throw Musharraf out," she said. "If you don't take the dead dog out of the well, you can't clean it."
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party was the runaway leader in pre-election polls with 50-per-cent support, followed by the Pakistan PML-N - led by another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif - with 22 per cent. The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, which Musharraf continued to claim would win the vote, was a dismal third with 14 per cent.
