Voting begins in crucial Pakistan election

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistanis voted Monday for a new parliament in an election seen as a major step toward democracy but shadowed by fears of violence and the uncertain future of President Pervez Musharraf after eight years of military rule.

Polls opened nationwide at 8 a.m. (0300 GMT), amid tight security after a wave of suicide bombings, and were due to close at 5 p.m.(1200 GMT). The country’s 81 million eligible voters also were choosing legislatures in Pakistan’s four provinces.

"We pray to God that there is peace," said Kanwar Mohammed Dilshad, deputy chief of the Election Commission. "We pray for record turnout."

The election was delayed six weeks after former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto died in a suicide gun and bombing attack on Dec. 27. Since her death, the campaign was muted. Fear of violence tamped down public rallies and took much of the spirit out of the contest.

The start of voting was slow in major cities, such as Islamabad and Lahore, but in Nawab Shah, the southern hometown of Bhutto’s widowed husband, Asif Ali Zardari - who is now the leader of her Pakistan Peoples Party - 10 men stood in line at a polling station.

"My vote is for the PPP," said Munir Ahmed Tariq, a retired police officer. "If there is rigging this time, there will be a severe reaction. This is a sentiment of this nation."

First results were expected late Monday but final, official figures were not likely until Wednesday.

The result remained tough to call because of the scarcity of reliable polls, but Musharraf, who was re-elected last October to a new five-year term, faces growing public anger over his moves last year to declare emergency rule, purge the judiciary and curb independent media. An overwhelming victory by the opposition would leave him politically vulnerable, even at risk of impeachment.

Two public opinion surveys by U.S. groups have suggested that if the election is fair, Bhutto’s party will finish first, followed by another opposition party led by ex-premier Nawaz Sharif. The pro-Musharraf party - the Pakistani Muslim League-Q - is trailing in third.

But the PML-Q still predicts it will fare strongly in rural areas of the largest province, Punjab, where the election is likely to be lost or won and where allegiance to feudal landlords, rather than a party’s profile, can determine how people vote.

Opposition politicians repeated charges Sunday - denied by officials - that the government plans to rig the balloting in favor of the ruling party. They warned of street protests if the balloting is manipulated.