Pakistani politicians were making final preparations today for a general election the next day that could usher in a parliament intent on forcing US ally President Pervez Musharraf from power.
Authorities imposed a curfew in a northwestern town after 47 were killed in a suicide bomb attack on supporters of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto yesterday.
Election workers take a break on sealed bags filled with blank ballot papers during distribution in Lahore today Photo: Reuters
Fears of militant violence have overshadowed the campaign, which officially ended at midnight on Saturday, especially after opposition leader Mrs Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack on December 27th as she left a rally in Rawalpindi.
Voting was postponed from January 8th after Mrs Bhutto's death, which raised concern about the nuclear-armed country's stability. Analysts say worry about election-day violence could hurt turnout.
Former army chief Mr Musharraf is not taking part in the elections for a new parliament and provincial assemblies but his increasingly unpopular rule looks set to be a decisive factor.
A hostile parliament could challenge his October re-election for another five-year term by legislators which critics said was unconstitutional. That could herald turmoil. Trouble is also likely if the opposition rejects the result.
Mrs Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the other main opposition party, led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who Mr Musharraf ousted in a 1999 coup, have complained of widespread rigging by Mr Musharraf's allies and they have vowed protests if they are robbed of victory.
Serious disturbances would raise questions about how the powerful military might react.
Mr Musharraf's popularity was hurt when he tried to dismiss the country's top judge in March, then took a dive in November when he imposed six weeks of emergency rule to stymie legal challenges to his re-election.
Another decisive factor, analysts say, will be the strength of a sympathy vote for Mrs Bhutto's party.
Mr Musharraf, who retired from the army in November, rejects complaints of rigging and says procedures have been refined to prevent cheating. He says he is ready to work with whichever party forms a government and chooses a prime minister.
He said yesterday the vote would be fair and peaceful and he hoped for a stable government that would focus on tackling terrorism and economic growth. Many Pakistanis blame the government for rising prices and shortages of staples.