Pakistan tense on election eve

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani politicians were makingfinal preparations on Sunday for a general election the nextday that could usher in a parliament intent on forcing U.S.ally President Pervez Musharraf from power.

Authorities imposed a curfew in a northwestern town after47 were killed in a suicide bomb attack on supporters ofassassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Saturday.

Fears of militant violence have overshadowed the campaign,which officially ended at midnight on Saturday, especiallyafter opposition leader Bhutto was killed in a gun and bombattack on December 27 as she left a rally in Rawalpindi.

Voting was postponed from January 8 after Bhutto's death,which raised concern about the nuclear-armed country'sstability. Analysts say worry about election-day violence couldhurt turnout.

Former army chief Musharraf is not taking part in theelections for a new parliament and provincial assemblies buthis increasingly unpopular rule looks set to be a decisivefactor.

But many Pakistanis say they are disillusioned about anelection that is meant to complete a transition to civilianrule.

"I'm not particularly keen," said truck driver Sadaqat Ali,when asked if he would vote.

"What have these politicians ever done for us? They neverfulfil their pre-election promises," said Ali as he sipped teafrom a broken cup at a dusty roadside cafe near Islamabad.

A hostile parliament could challenge Musharraf's Octoberre-election for another five-year term by legislators whichcritics said was unconstitutional. That could herald turmoil.

Trouble is also likely if the opposition rejects theresult.

Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the other mainopposition party, led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif,who Musharraf ousted in a 1999 coup, have complained ofwidespread rigging by Musharraf's allies and they have vowedprotests if they are robbed of victory.

Serious disturbances would raise questions about how thepowerful military might react.

SYMPATHY VOTE

Musharraf's popularity was hurt when he tried to dismissthe country's top judge in March, then took a dive in Novemberwhen he imposed six weeks of emergency rule to stymie legalchallenges to his re-election.

Another decisive factor, analysts say, will be the strengthof a sympathy vote for Bhutto's party.

Musharraf, who retired from the army in November, rejectscomplaints of rigging and says procedures have been refined toprevent cheating. He says he is ready to work with whicheverparty forms a government and chooses a prime minister.

He said on Saturday the vote would be fair and peaceful andhe hoped for a stable government that would focus on tacklingterrorism and economic growth. Many Pakistanis blame thegovernment for rising prices and shortages of staples.

With none of the main parties -- the PPP, the pro-MusharrafPakistan Muslim League (PML) and Sharif's Pakistan MuslimLeague (Nawaz) -- expected to secure a majority, a coalitionbetween two of the three is likely.

Sharif's party has said it will not enter government aslong as Musharraf is president. The PPP has left options open.

Party leaders were holding final meetings with candidatesand planning final news conferences, party officials said.

Saturday's suicide blast in Parachinar, near the Afghanborder, was the latest in a string of attacks and the mostbloody during the campaign.

Militant violence, especially in the northwest, has surgedsince July when troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad.

Islamic parties are expected to fare badly but that is moreto do with their failure to bring improvement in North WestFrontier Province where they have ruled since the last electionin 2002, analysts say.

Polls open at 8 a.m. (3 a.m. British time) and close at 5p.m. (12p.m. British time).

Ballots will be counted in polling stations and results areexpected to start coming out towards midnight on Monday.

The trend in the battleground province of Punjab, wherehalf the members of parliament will be elected, should be clearlate on Tuesday morning, with unofficial results out later inthe day.

Nearly 81 million people, half the population, areregistered to vote. Several hundred foreign observers andthousands of Pakistani observers will be monitoring the votebut they have not been allowed to do exit polls.

A European Union team is due to give a preliminaryassessment on Tuesday.

(To read more about the Pakistan election visit the Reutersblog "Pakistan: Now or Never?" athttp://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan/)

(Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)