By Simon Cameron-Moore
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Fears of violence overshadowedPakistan's general election on Monday with 80,000 troopsbacking up police to watch over a vote that could return aparliament set on driving President Pervez Musharraf fromoffice.
The election was originally scheduled for January 8 but theassassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto after arally in Rawalpindi on December 27 forced a delay.
Polls opened at 8 a.m. (3 a.m. British time) and will closeat 5 p.m. (12 noon British time).
The death of Bhutto, the most progressive, Western-friendlypolitician in a Muslim nation rife with anti-Americansentiment, raised concern about stability in the nuclear-armedstate, and the vote is being keenly watched by allies andneighbours.
Voting got off to a slow start. Monday has been declared aholiday with financial markets and schools closed and trafficwas very thin on roads in cities across the country.
In Rawalpindi, political party agents failed to show up ontime and Election Commission officials had to wait for them towitness the sealing of ballot boxes.
"Who should we blame, the government or the parties?" saidone angry man waiting to vote, Shamim Sadiq, who said he hadcome early because he was worried about security.
Musharraf's popularity plunged over the past year becauseof his manoeuvres to hold on to power which included purgingthe judiciary and imposing six weeks of emergency rule.
Many Pakistanis also blame the government for risingprices, shortages of staples and all too frequent power cuts.
There is a security scare in large parts of Pakistan, whereMusharraf has ruled since coming to power as a general in acoup in 1999, and a suicide attack on supporters of Bhutto'sparty killed 47 people in a town near the Afghan border onSaturday.
Fear of violence could hurt turnout.
"You see suicide bombings everywhere and you can see theempty streets on polling day. It's all because of fear," saidcivil servant Mohammad Ijaz who was voting in the city ofLahore where three people were killed in shootings late onSunday.
A supporter of the opposition party led by former primeminister Nawaz Sharif was killed in a shooting in Punjabprovince shortly after polls opened, police said. Suspectedmilitants set off bombs at two polling stations in thenorthwest before polls opened but no one was hurt.
COALITION SEEN
The other worry is rigging, which could prompt oppositionparties to reject the result and call for street protests,raising concern over how the powerful army would react.
The country of 160 million people has alternated betweencivilian and army rule throughout its 60-year history.
Otherwise, a sympathy vote is expected to help Bhutto'sPakistan People's Party (PPP) become the largest party in the342-seat National Assembly.
Results are expected to start emerging by midnight andtrends should be clear on Tuesday morning.
Most analysts doubt the PPP can win a majority. Who itchooses for coalition partners will be vital to Musharraf.
Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, who is co-chairman ofthe PPP, issued a conciliatory call for unity on the eve of thevote.
An alliance between the PPP and Sharif's party is whatMusharraf dreads as Sharif is intent on bringing him down,perhaps through impeachment by parliament.
Analysts say Musharraf wants a coalition between the PPPand the party that back him, the Pakistan Muslim League.
Western allies, who want a stable Pakistan to focus onfighting militancy, are hoping moderate forces will prevail, asare investors in a stock market that rose 40 percent last year,but has shed about 3 percent since Bhutto's death.
International credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's saidon Monday Pakistan was among several countries facing risks onaccount of political instability.
Nearly 81 million people are registered to vote. Severalhundred foreigners and thousands of Pakistanis have fanned outto monitor the vote but are not allowed to do exit polls.
A European Union team is due to give a preliminaryassessment by Wednesday.
(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 in Lahore; Editingby Robert Birsel)
