By Robert Birsel
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Asif Ali Zardari, the widower offormer Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, swept tovictory in a presidential election on Saturday.
Underscoring the problems he faces, a suicide car bomberkilled 16 people in an attack on a police post in thenorthwestern city of Peshawar. At least five of the dead werepolicemen, and the blast wounded about 40 people.
Investors and foreign allies led by the United States hopethe election will bring some stability after months ofpolitical turmoil and rising militant violence. The uncertaintyhas dragged stocks and the rupee sharply lower.
A former businessman, Zardari is close to the United Statesand has stressed Pakistan's commitment to the widely unpopularcampaign against militancy.
Members of the two-chamber parliament and four provincialassemblies voted on a replacement for former army chief PervezMusharraf, who resigned last month nine years after takingpower in a coup.
Zardari, who had been widely expected to win, secured 480out of 702 electoral college votes, according to unofficialElection Commission results.
A polo-playing playboy in his younger days, Zardari spent11 years in jail on corruption and murder charges. He was neverconvicted and denied any wrongdoing but faces widespread doubtsabout his suitability to be president.
In brief comments at a gathering with party colleagues,Zardari hailed his victory as the completion of the democraticprocess.
"To those who would say the People's Party, or thepresidency, would be controversial under our guardianship,under our stewardship, I would say 'listen to democracy'," hesaid, flanked by his two daughters.
Their mother was killed in a suicide attack on December 27last year, weeks after returning from years in exile. HerPakistan People's Party (PPP) now holds the presidency andleads the government.
Zardari, 53, will have to contend with a host of problemsin the nuclear-armed U.S. ally, including militant violence andan economy in tatters.
ANGER WITH U.S.
The bomb in Peshawar destroyed the police post and broughtdown roofs of buildings and some people were under the rubble,provincial police chief Malik Naveed Khan said. The bomber'starget was probably the provincial assembly where members werevoting, he said. Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.
Zardari was thrust into the centre of politics by hiswife's assassination. A February parliamentary election win forthe PPP made him one of the most powerful figures in thecountry.
His decision in August to begin impeachment proceedingsagainst Musharraf led to the latter's resignation.
His two rivals in the vote were Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, aformer judge, nominated by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif'sparty, and Mushahid Hussain Sayed, from the party that backedMusharraf and ruled under him.
Zardari will take office as anger with the United States isboiling after a bloody incursion by U.S. ground troops into aremote village on the Afghan border on Wednesday.
He will walk a tightrope between reassuring the UnitedStates on his efforts against militancy while calming publicanger.
In a show of indignation over the raid, authorities blockeda major fuel supply route for Western forces in Afghanistan,Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar told Dawn Television.
Most fuel and other supplies for U.S. forces in Afghanistanare trucked through Pakistan, crossing the border at twopoints, Torkham, near Peshawar, and Chaman to the southwest.
The Chaman crossing, where supplies cross into the Afghansouth, was operating normally.
Political uncertainty, exacerbated by a split in thePPP-led coalition last month, together with security andeconomic worries, has sapped investor confidence and draggedPakistani stocks down 34 percent this year.
The main index rose 1 percent on Friday, helped by optimismthe vote will bring clarity. The rupee has lost 20 percent tothe dollar this year but firmed on Friday.
Some commentators fear rivalry with Sharif, head of thecountry's second biggest party, could herald a return to thetumultuous politics of the 1990s.
"The real test has begun. Terrorism and the economy willhave to controlled and if they do, they could go a long way.But if not, they'll be out in two years," said retired teacherSajjad Ali Shah.
(Additional reporting by Kamran Haider, Augustine Anthony,Zeeshan Haider, Faris Ali, Imtiaz Shah, Gul Yousafzai, MubasherBukhari)
