ISLAMIC fundamentalists look set to hold the balance of power in the formation of a new Pakistan government after their astonishing success in Thursday’s elections.

The advance of the alliance of five hardline Islamic parties is bound to call into question the continuation of Pakistani and American efforts to hunt down Taleban and al-Qaeda fugitives in the rugged north near the Afghan border.

With two thirds of the votes counted, no political party had won a clear majority in the polls, laying the groundwork for frenetic horsetrading to create a viable coalition. The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam) (PML-Q), which supports the military rule of President Musharraf, appeared to be on course to win the largest number of seats, followed in second place by Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

But the biggest upset was the emergence of the pro-Taleban Muthida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) alliance in third place, putting it on course to become the kingmaker in the formation of any coalition government. The alliance swept the vote in North West Frontier Province and Baluchistan, the eastern provinces bordering Afghanistan, and also won control of local assemblies there.

“It is a revolution,” Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the alliance’s deputy leader, told supporters at a victory rally. “We will not accept US bases and Western culture.”

The alliance’s success will come as a rude shock to General Musharraf’s regime, which had cultivated it during the campaign but never expected it to emerge in such a powerful position. The Government-backed PML-Q will now have little choice but to invite at least some of the alliance’s religious parties into government if it is to exclude PPP rivals from power.

That may mean significant concessions to the fundamentalists, who campaigned on an anti-American platform and called for the removal of US troops from Pakistani territory.Diplomats said they did not believe that the fundamentalists would prove a serious hurdle to Pakistan’s pro-American foreign policy, but acknowledged that the reality could be different.

“The question is, will it now be easy for American troops to wander round tribal areas?” one Western diplomat said. “In the long run, however, Pakistan has no real alternative to supporting the Americans and there is a limit to how much the religious parties can upset that.”

The alliance leaders said that the election results were a clear repudiation of General Musharraf’s policy of supporting the United States. The general’s liberal policies have also evoked strong opposition from the radical Islamic groups.

But the real danger may lie within the ranks of the Armed Forces. Observers believe that conservative officers will be emboldened by the gains of the fundamentalists. Far from a return to democratic rule, most see the election as ushering in a new form of military government.

“The religious right has alway thrived under military rule,” Samina Ahmed, of the International Crisis Group, said.

Widespread voter apathy and the fact that the former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were excluded from the polls appeared to have played into the hands of the fundamentalists, who they failed to win more than 5 per cent in previous elections.

They were also aided by the Government, which allowed them more freedom to campaign than other political parties, banking on being able to use their support in a later parliament.

The parties that fared less well than expected were quick to call foul, pointing to long delays in the announcement of the results after first returns showed a slender lead for Miss Bhutto’s PPP. Miss Bhutto complained that the results being declared throughout yesterday contradicted exit polls that showed her party winning a narrow majority.

Independent candidates also fared well in an election marked by a popular weariness with the old political order. Imran Khan, the former cricket captain turned politician, won a seat in Parliament for the first time, defeating a government-backed candidate.

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