Dealing a body blow to the ruling PML-Q loyal to President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's opposition PPP and PML-N on Tuesday emerged as the largest parties in parliamentary polls and may jointly form a government, threatening the eight-year rule of the former General.
A day after the Pakistanis voted for a new Parliament, state-run PTV said that Pakistan People's Party (PPP), riding on a sympathy wave following the December 27 assassination of its leader Benazir Bhutto, bagged 85 seats while PML-N of former premier Nawaz Sharif was at the second position with 65.
If the two parties jointly form a government, a possibility they had been exploring for the past few days, Musharraf could be impeached in Parliament.
With results out for 248 of the 269 National Assembly seats for which the polling took place yesterday, the ruling PML-Q got only 37 seats. So far, MQM had received 19 seats, ANP 10, PPP(S) 1 and others 31.
Polling was not held in three Nation Assembly constituencies while the Election Commission suspended results for two.
Many were surprised by the results because it had widely been expected that the sympathy wave generated by Bhutto's assassination sweep her party to power.
On the provincial assemblies' front, the PML-N swept the polls in Punjab while PPP was leading in Sindh, its traditional stronghold, Geo News reported.
The religious parties that ruled North West Frontier Province's assembly were routed by the ANP and the PPP while the PML-Q took an early lead in Balochistan, where many local parties had boycotted the polls.
Elections were originally to be held for 272 seats in the 342-member National Assembly but polls to three seats were countermanded due to the death of as many candidates, including Bhutto.
The remaining 70 seats in the National Assembly 60 reserved for women and 10 reserved for minorities - will be distributed among the parties on the basis of votes bagged by them.
PML-N workers were also surprised by their party's strong showing despite the two top leaders - Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz - being barred from contesting the polls.
The PPP's top leadership, including co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, went into a huddle in Islamabad. Zardari was slated to meet a delegation of US leaders before chairing a meeting of the PPP's central executive committee.
The PML-Q saw many of its stalwarts - including former premier Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, former Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, a close aide of Musharraf and former foreign minister Khurshid M Kasuri - being defeated by their PPP and PML-N opponents.
Ahmed was handed stunning but not unexpected defeats by PML-N leaders Makhdoom Javed Hashmi and Haneef Abbasi in the two parliamentary constituencies he had contested from in Rawalpindi, considered a bastion of the former minister.
At many places in Punjab, including Rawalpindi, PPP and PML-N leaders held joint celebrations over their successes.
The MQM was in fourth place, mainly on the strength of its performance in the southern Sindh province. It is also expected to play a key role in the formation of a coalition at the centre.
Among other top leaders who were defeated was former National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain, who lost to his PPP opponent. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman lost from his traditional constituency of Dera Ismail Khan but won from Bannu.
Former interior minister and PPP-Sherpao leader Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, who was initially trailing his opponent, won from Charsadda in North West Frontier Province. Among the winning candidates were a large number of independents.
The Election Commission has not released a figure for the turnout so far, and the TV channels were airing unofficial results based on tallies obtained from polling stations where votes were being counted after the balloting closed.
Poll observers from abroad and their Pakistani counterparts said the elections were largely free and fair.
"They were by and large free, fair and transparent, to my absolute surprise. This was possibly the most transparent election since 1970 though the turnout was comparatively low due to security reasons," said Mariam Qazi, spokesperson for the Centre for Media and Democracy.
