Europaworld 3/5/2002 Musharraf Wins Pakistan Referendum, But Doubts Remain about its Fairness:

Karachi: 3rd May 2002: Pakistan's Election Commission declared, on 1st of May 2002, that General Musharraf had won the referendum held to determine whether he should remain the country's president. The Commission held that 97 per cent of the votes cast were in favour of his retaining power.

However, opposition parties, dismissed the referendum as undemocratic and saying that the turnout had been just five to seven per cent. They had called on voters to boycott the referendum and called for Musharraf to step down.

General Musharraf faced international criticism after seizing power in Pakistan in a bloodless coup in October 1999. The referendum will give him another five years in office.

Polling stations were reported largely quiet in the Pakistan's biggest cities, including Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. But many said that the whole polling process was neither free, fair nor transparent.

Human rights activists also reported widespread irregularities in the vote. Some said that discontent with the way the referendum had been conducted, specifically the way state facilities had been employed to ensure victory for General Musharraf, would actually weaken his position. They say that the present referendum is reminiscent of similar exercises carried out by the former Pakistan military ruler, General Zia ul-Haq, in 1984.

The referendum was designed to give Musharraf a popular mandate to continue his economic, and political reforms, besides keeping him in power during and after the parliamentary elections due in October 2002.

The United States and other influential western countries have indicated that they would like Musharraf to stay in office, especially since he threw his weight behind the U.S.- led war on terror in the wake of the September 11th attacks.