Musharraf allies struggle in Pakistan vote count

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Early Pakistani election results showsupporters of President Pervez Musharraf struggling, televisionstations reported on Tuesday.

Monday's election was relatively peaceful after a bloodycampaign that will be remembered for the assassination offormer prime minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in asuicide attack on December 27.

Overall trends were unlikely to become clear until later onTuesday but small groups of opposition supporters celebrated inthe streets of Lahore and Rawalpindi.

In a major blow for the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) whichbacks Musharraf, its president, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, aformer prime minister, was defeated in his Punjab provinceconstituency by a rival from Bhutto's party, televisionnetworks said, citing unofficial Election Commission tallies.

Several other senior PML members appeared to be losingtheir seats, television stations reported.

Musharraf said on Monday he would work with whoever won tobuild democracy in a country that has alternated betweencivilian and army rule throughout its 60-year history.

"This is the voice of the nation," Musharraf said onstate-run Pakistan Television lat on Monday. "Everyone shouldaccept the results, that includes myself."

A hostile parliament could try to remove Musharraf, whocame to power as a general in a 1999 coup and emerged as acrucial Muslim ally of the United States in a "war on terror"that most Pakistanis think is Washington's, not theirs.

The death of Bhutto, the most progressive, Western-friendlypolitician in a Muslim nation rife with anti-Americansentiment, raised concern about the stability of thenuclear-armed country.

Musharraf's popularity has plunged over the past yearbecause of measures including his purge of the judiciary andthe imposition of six weeks of emergency rule.

Many Pakistanis also blame him and his PML-led governmentfor rising prices, food shortages and power cuts.

"If they lose, then I feel I'm winning," said Imtiaz Ali, alawyer in the northwestern city of Peshawar, as he watchedearly results on television.

"I'm optimistic because the way people have voted showsthat they want democracy, not dictatorship."

FEAR AND SYMPATHY

Fear kept many Pakistanis away from the polls, despite80,000 troops backing up police.

A suicide bomb campaign waged by al Qaeda-inspiredmilitants has added to a mounting sense of insecurity. Morethan 450 people have been killed in militant-related violencethis year.

Election violence on Monday, though bad in places, was notas severe as many had feared.

At least 20 people were killed in poll-related violence,including 15 activists from Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party(PPP), her widower Asif Ali Zardari said.

A Pakistani poll watchdog group said there had been a fewincidents of polling irregularities. Main opposition partieswhich had earlier warned of rigging by Musharraf's allies hadno immediate comment on the fairness of the vote.

Sarwar Bari of the Free and Fair Election Network, anumbrella organisation of 40 non-governmental organisations,said initial estimates suggested a turnout of nearly 42percent, almost matching that of the 2002 election.

A sympathy vote is expected to help Bhutto's PPP become thelargest party in the 342-seat National Assembly, but mostanalysts doubt it can win a majority.

Analysts say Musharraf wants a coalition between the PPPand the PML.

An alliance between the PPP and the other main oppositionparty, led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif who Musharrafousted in 1999, is what Musharraf dreads, as together theycould force him out through impeachment or other ways.

By quitting as army chief in November to extend hispresidency until 2012, Musharraf weakened ties with hisgreatest source of support.

Western allies hope for a stable Pakistan focused onfighting militancy, as do investors in a stock market that rose40 percent last year but has shed about 3 percent sinceBhutto's death.

(To read more about the Pakistan election double click on;and visit the Reuters blog "Pakistan: Now or Never?" athttp://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan/)

(Additional reporting by Kamran Haider and Jon Hemming inLahore, Faisal Aziz and Sahar Ahmed in Karachi and SimonGardner in Larkana; writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; editing byRobert Birsel and Andrew Roche)