Voting is continuing in a referendum to decide whether Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf should remain as president for an extra five years. People were seen queueing at public buildings for the 9:00 am (0830 IST) start to voting, while others showed their intent by riding around the streets with Musharraf`s face stamped over Pakistani flags. The ballot asks people whether they want Musharraf, who ousted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless military coup in 1999 and named himself President in June last year, to stay in power for five years.
It links the General`s tenure to a drive against corruption, economic and social reform and the return of democracy through parliamentary elections scheduled in October.
Opposition political and religious parties have urged their followers to boycott the vote and the final turnout figure will be a key test of Musharraf`s grassroots support.
Officials are hoping for more than 30 per cent, a figure which foreign observers have said would be credible, out of the total electorate of some 70 million people, or half the population.
But opposition groups complain that Musharraf has trampled on the 1973 constitution and is preparing to rig the outcome through multiple voting and ballot tampering.
They say the government is ferrying its supporters and civil servants to polling stations, while inadequate voter registration and monitoring of the ballot boxes would encourage fraud.
Bureau Report