By Prensa Latina
Islamabad : Pakistan expects to elect Monday a new Parliament and the assemblies of its four provinces in an atmosphere marked by insecurity, violence and political uncertainty.
Security operations have no comparison, however, hours before starting elections, about 20 explosions have shaken the southern province of Balochistan.
Opposition soldiers dynamited a polling station in the convulsive valley of Swat, in the northeastern part of the country, and Lahore, as well as a candidate from the Pakistan Muslin League N and other three people shot in two violence incidents.
Elections have been postponed in Parachinar, in the tribal region of Kurram, where a suicide attacker killed Saturday 47 people and wounded over 100, while the army redoubled security in the bordering zone with Afghanistan.
Amid this state of violence, it is expected a high abstentionism among 80 million voters.
Authorities have declared 9,545 polling station of high risk, of 64,176 polling sites located in the four provinces.
The opposition considers those results will be manipulated to favor the parties allied to President Pervez Musharraf and threaten to stage massive protests, while the statesman warns he won’t allow more chaos.
According to Musharraf, the Pakistan Muslim League Q and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement could reach the majority of votes, “but if they could form or not the government is a question,” said the former general who took office in a military coup in 1999.