At least nine people were killed in sporadic violence as Pakistanis voted yesterday in the second phase of local elections expected to lay the ground for President Pervez Musharraf to stay in office beyond 2007.

Pakistani officials said the violence was unexceptional, although 16 people were killed and hundreds injured during the first phase a week ago.

?Such violence is normal in local elections but there have been no clashes inside the polling stations,? a senior Election Commission official said. Although the elections for local councils were held on a non-party basis, most candidates were backed by party factions.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League and its allies claimed big wins during the first phase, though opponents of the pro-military government denounced the polls as rigged.

Vote for party in power

The local polls, revived by Musharraf as a means to promote grass-roots democracy, will culminate in a third phase on September 29, when the elected councillors will themselves vote for district or sub-district chiefs, or Nazims.

The Nazims possess political clout that could prove crucial during elections in 2007 to the national and provincial assemblies that pick the president.

Aides say Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led war on terrorism will stand for office in 2007 and he is widely expected to win. After coming to power in a bloodless military coup in 1999, General Musharraf won a controversial referendum in 2002 to become president and was then endorsed by parliament.

Analysts say Musharraf wants allies to strengthen power bases for the general elections, otherwise he might have to do a deal with rivals such as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Both Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, the premier Musharraf ousted, can still draw popular support.

But as they live in exile their parties have no real chance of power, and voters who want better government services have weighed up the realities.

?How can we get our problems resolved if we don?t vote?? said schoolteacher Tayyaba Batool, adding that she would vote for a candidate backed by the ruling Muslim League.

?If you want your problems resolved then vote for candidates whose party is in power.?

Interest has been relatively high. Turnout appeared to outstrip that of national elections in many areas, even though the opposition has dismissed Election Commission estimates of a 50 percent turnout as massively exaggerated.

Thousands of people flocked to polling stations in the garrison city of Rawalpindi that adjoins Islamabad yesterday and some queued for up to an hour to vote.

The opposition has accused the ruling coalition of widespread malpractice, including ballot box stuffing.

?We are expecting nothing better from the government and its allies in the second round in terms of rigging, in terms of high-handedness and in terms of the involvement of government machinery in the election process,? said senior PPP official Raza Rabbani.

Aamir ASHRAF