Dawn : Musharraf sweeps vote, victory hangs on court

Musharraf sweeps vote, victory hangs on court

Reuters | October 6, 2007

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf swept most votes (384 out of 702) in a presidential election Saturday but he has to wait for the Supreme Court to confirm the legality of his bid before being declared the winner.

His landslide in an election largely boycotted by the opposition was widely expected.

Members of the two-chamber parliament and four provincial assemblies voted for president. In the two houses of parliament (Senate and the National Assembly), Musharraf won 252 of 257 votes cast.

His closest rival, Wajihuddin Ahmed, got two votes, while three votes were declared invalid, Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Mohammad Farooq told the National Assembly.

Three other contesting candidates, Senate chairman Mohammadmian Soomro, Musharraf’s covering candidate; PPP’s Makhdoom Ameen Fahim and his covering candidate Faryal Talpur did not earn any vote.

Musharraf had also won most votes cast in all four provincial assemblies, officials said, and ended up with a total of 384 electoral college votes out of 702, according to a Reuters tally.

“This result shows the people want continuity of policy,” Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters in parliament.

Coinciding with the vote, lawyers behind a campaign against Musharraf led anti-government protests in the four provincial capitals - Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta.

Police fired tear gas shells to disperse lawyers pelting rocks at the North West Frontier Province assembly in Peshawar, where protesters also torched an armoured police vehicle.

But opposition’s call for a protest strike by and large went without public support.