VOTE counting began in Pakistan yesterday after a lacklustre election with an apparently dismal turnout and an accusation by, the party of the ousted prime minister, Ms Benazir Bhutto, that polling had not been free and fair.
Senator Raza Rabbani of Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) said in Karachi that several irregularities had marred the polls and accused the local administration in the port city of backing Ms Bhutto's opponents.
"These were not random incidents but a clear pattern has emerged ... Obviously a fair and free election would not have these incidents," Mr Rabbani said.
The turnout appeared to have been dismal in a lack lustre election expected to return Ms Bhutto's main rival, the former prime minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, to power. Last night he said his party was heading for a big victory and asked Ms Bhutto to accept defeat.
Early this morning Mr Sharif had won two seats in the 217 seat parliament, while his Pakistan Muslim League was on its way to winning 100 seats in the largest province, Punjab, election officials and PML sources said.
Eight people were killed in election day violence, but officials said polling was generally peaceful. Many of Pakistan's 56.5 million eligible voters seemed to have stayed away, either because of Ramadan or because they distrust the leaders.
The leader of a Commonwealth team of observers said the elections had been free and mainly peaceful. "As the polls closed, it was a picture of largely peaceful elections, a relaxed election day," the former Australian prime minister, Sir Malcolm Fraser, said.
About 250,000 troops were deployed for the elections, which were monitored by observers from the EU, the US, the Commonwealth and South Asia, as well as the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Pakistan's cricketer turned politician, Mr Imran Khan, failed to cast what would have been his first vote.