M A I N   N E W S

Initial results favour Pervez

Islamabad, April 30
Initial results from a referendum in Pakistan today indicated that an overwhelming majority of voters approved another five-year term as President for General Pervez Musharraf.

With 9.578 votes counted from 21 polling stations nearly five hours after voting closed at 7 p.m. (local time), 9,280 ballots supported extending General Musharraf’s term. Only 203 were against it while the rest were invalid. Final results are not expected before tomorrow. General Musharraf is expected to win despite boycott calls from most of the main political parties, but he was hoping for a high turnout that would lend his bid a stamp of legitimacy. The government run Electoral Commission relaxed voting rules and set up an unprecedented 87,000 polling stations. AP

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, centre, and his wife Sehba Musharraf, right, look at Zareen Musharraf, mother of President Musharraf, casts her vote in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Tuesday. — AP/PTI