Opposition leaders urged Musharraf to resign after it became clear that his Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) suffered a major defeat in the ballot.
Initial results obtained by BosNewsLife showed the PML-Q gaining roughly 38 seats in the Pakistan’s parliament, the National Assembly.
Most votes went to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) which snatched some 87 seats, followed by the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) with 67 seats, according to first official results.
POLITICAL PERSONALITIES
Several major political personalities of Musharraf’s PML-Q lost seats in both the national and provincial assemblies, election officials said. PML-Q official Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain said his party had accepted that it “has lost the elections.”
PML-N leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the people of Pakistan "have given their decision against the PML-Q and Pervez Musharraf," and he urged the president to resign. President Musharraf reportedly ruled out this saying he is the legally elected president of Pakistan for the next five year term, and that he would not leave office.
Yet with celebrations breaking out in several places of opposition supporters, there was growing pressure on Musharraf early Wednesday, February 20, local time, to rethink his position. Over 20,000 foreign election monitors observed the voting process, and officials said there were no, or very few, traces of vote rigging. However the Election Commission of Pakistan said 18 people died and 150 received minor injuries during isolated incidents during Election Day.
Yet, US Senators John Carey, Joseph Bydel and observers from the European Union said that overall they were satisfied with the "freedom, fairness and transparency" of the ballot. They said most voters rejected "extremists,” choosing instead “moderate" and "fair" representatives.
|
Total Seats in the National Assembly |
261/268 |
| Pakistan Muslim League PML-Q | 38 |
| Pakistan Muslim League PML-N | 67 |
| PPP | 87 |
| ANP | 10 |
| MQM | 19 |
| MMA | 5 |
| Pakistan Muslim League PML-F | 4 |
| PPP-S | 1 |
| BNP(A) | 1 |
| NPP | 2 |
| Independent Candidates | 27 |
Source: Election Commission/BosNewsLife Projections
Replying to a question about concerns over the independence of the country’s judiciary, Senator Carey quoted Musharraf as saying that the newly elected parliament would decide “the fate of sacked Supreme Court Chief Justice Chaudhary Muhammad Iftikhar and other Judges."
JUDICIARY QUESTIONS
Nearly six out of every ten eligible voters participated in the ballot, a higher turnout than any previously held election, the Commission said, adding to hopes of politicians representing Christians and other religious minorities they received enough support to gain seats in the national and local assemblies.
An official of the influential political and advocacy group All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) told BosNewsLife that there were several key PPP nominated minority representatives. There are several Christian candidates likely elected in assemblies of the provinces of Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, and Pakistan’s troubled North West Frontier Province (NWFP), said APMA’s Punjab Coordinator Khalid Gill.
The NWFP and other regions of Pakistan has seen several kidnappings and killings of Christians in recent months. Christians have made clear they hope the outcome of the ballot will also help to tackle Islamic extremism in the country. (Read more from Jawad Mazhar via www.raysofdevelopment.org).
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