President Pervez Musharraf's opponents have won a resounding victory in yesterday's landmark parliamentary election, raising questions about his political future and breathing life into Pakistani democracy after eight years of military rule (write Jeremy Page in Lahore and Zahid Hussain in Islamabad).

The Pakistan Muslim League (Q), which supports Mr Musharraf, conceded defeat after unofficial results showed it had lost more than two thirds of its seats in parliament as voters defied the threat of suicide attacks to vent their frustration with the President.

But while the two main opposition parties appeared to have swept the vote, neither commanded an outright majority, raising the prospect of an unstable coalition government in this volatile Muslim country of 165 million people.

Despite 470,000 police and troops on the streets, turnout was only 30-40 per cent due to a wave of suicide attacks by Islamic militants since July, including one that killed Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister, on December 27.

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Bhutto was killed by bomb blast

The team from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command have backed the claim that Benazir Bhutto was not shot

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BACKGROUND

• Pakistan in turmoil as ‘martial law’ imposed

• Bhutto escapes as bombers kill 126

• Timeline: Pakistan's period of turmoil

• The man out to oust a President

• Internal crisis gives Pakistan reason for hope

Related Links

• Pakistan celebrates final end to military rule

Multimedia

• In pictures: Pakistan at the polls

• Full coverage of Pakistan's elections

• Video: Pakistan goes to the polls

Final results are not expected until later today, but unofficial figures suggested that her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won the most seats, followed by the Pakistan Muslim League (N), led by Nawaz Sharif, another former Prime Minister.

The private Geo TV network said the two parties had so far won 153 seats between them in the 342-member National Assembly, with the party formerly headed by Ms Bhutto winning 87 and Mr Sharif's party notching 66.

The PML (Q), which split from Mr Sharif's party, was lagging in third place with just 38 seats after several of Mr Musharraf's staunchest allies – including the party's leader – lost their seats.

"People have given their verdict. We respect it. We congratulate the PML (N) and PPP. They have done well," said Tariq Azeem, a PML-Q spokesman.

"As far as we are concerned, we will be willing to sit on opposition benches if final results prove that we have lost. This is the trend."

The make-up of a coalition government will be negotiated between the main opposition parties in the next few days, but a frontrunner to be Prime Minister is Makhdoom Amin Fahim, the 68-year-old PPP vice-chairman and veteran Bhutto loyalist.

The new government could then decide whether President Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999 and became a key US ally in the “war on terror”, should be impeached for imposing emergency rule last year to secure his own re-election.

It could also determine whether Pakistan continues to co-operate with Britain and the United States to the same degree in a campaign against al-Qaeda and Taleban militants near the border with Afghanistan.

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