ISLAMABAD, Oct 6 (KUNA) Hundreds of supporters of President Pervez Musharraf were celebrating his expected win but the legal community along with opposition parties held protest demonstrations in several parts of the country.
There was massive show of firecrackers in Karachi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Faislabad, Hyderabad and several other parts of the country after Musharraf secured 252 of 257 votes. Ruling party members, though pestered by the power-sharing deal with Bhuttos Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), distributed sweets and held open Iftar receptions. While polling was underway till the informal results were announced, lawyers and opposition alliance All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) held protest demonstrations across the country against Musharraf candidature.
The protest call largely went flat and protesters dispersed peacefully but lawyers in Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), went violent outside the assembly building and clashed with police.
They pelted stones at policemen and the assembly building and set on fire a police vehicle and burnt tyres. There were reports that about a dozen lawyers and policemen were wounded and windowpanes of the assembly building were shattered.
In Faislabad supporters of Mutahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) hurled a firecracker inside a shop that triggered clashes between protesters and shopkeepers but with polices ontime intervention prevented any major untoward incident.