Islamabad: The ruling party expressed confidence yesterday that it would be able to form a government after next week's parliamentary elections despite surveys pointing to a strong victory by President Pervez Musharraf's opponents.
Mushahid Hussain, secretary-general of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, said the party had improved education, health care and other public services during its five-year tenure and was confident going into Monday's balloting.
"Based on our performance, we are confident that we will win the elections," said Hussain.
"We are in favour of national reconciliation and would like to muster the support of all political forces after the elections to ensure good governance." However, a survey released on Monday by the US government-funded International Republican Institute showed overwhelming support for the opposition and predicted the ruling party would fare poorly.
The survey said half the respondents polled planned to vote for the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and 22 per cent backed a party headed by another ex-premier, Nawaz Sharif.
Only 14 per cent of those surveyed favoured the pro-Musharraf party, it said.
Blast at poll meeting
The election campaign is taking place against a backdrop of fear over militant violence as well as widespread cynicism over prospects for improvements in the life of the ordinary masses. The military has announced that tens of thousands of soldiers have been placed on alert to bolster security during the election.
Meanwhile, a blast at an election meeting of a pro-Taliban Islamist party in the troubled northwest yesterday killed at least one person. Eleven others were wounded, police said.
The explosion happened at Charbagh, a town in the restive Swat Valley, during a meeting of the hardline Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, said an officer.
"One person died and 11 were wounded in the explosion which also injured a former provincial assembly member belonging to the party," he said.
