Anti-American parties gain in Pakistan elections

ANTI-AMERICAN religious parties in Pakistan swept to power in Afghan border areas in yesterday’s elections as no single party emerged with an overall majority.

The pro-Taliban coalition also appeared set to form a coalition government in south-western Baluchistan province a border region where al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives are suspected to be hiding.

After three years of military rule, initial results showed that with more than two-thirds of the seats decided in the National Assembly, or lower house of parliament, the pro-military government party held a provisional lead, but would need to cobble together a coalition with other parties to form a government.

It seems unlikely the pro-Taliban parties would be willing to enter a partnership with the party aligned to President Pervez Musharraf because of their strong opposition to his support for the US-led war in the neighbouring country. Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party also made a strong showing in the federal parliament and could form the government if it found like-minded parties.

With 179 of the 272 seats in the National Assembly decided, independent candidates had won nearly two dozen seats and could be power-brokers in a future government as could the coalition of religious parties.

Pakistanis voted yesterday for a federal legislature and several provincial legislatures for the first time since a 1999 military coup staged by Musharraf.

Qasi Hussain Ahmed, leader of Pakistan's best-organised religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami, called on the faithful to offer prayers of thanks at mosques throughout the country yesterday, the Muslim sabbath. Of the 99 seats in the North West Province's legislature, the religious coalition United Action Forum controlled 50 seats, early results showed.

But officially-released results had the United Action Forum with 31 seats out of 53 declared districts.

The alliance would also pick up several of the province's 22 seats reserved for women, which are allocated according to a party's performance. There also are three seats in the frontier provincial assemblies for minorities.

Musharraf stays president for the next five years and has the power to dismiss parliament and the prime minister.

The final make-up of the National Assembly will not be known for days while political parties negotiate a power-sharing arrangement.