Bhutto?s Pakistan People?s Party (PPP) and the other main opposition party, led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who Musharraf ousted in a 1999 coup, have complained of widespread rigging by Musharraf?s allies and they have vowed protests if they are robbed of victory.

Serious disturbances would raise questions about how the powerful military might react.

Musharraf?s popularity was hurt when he tried to dismiss the country?s top judge in March, then took a dive in November when he imposed six weeks of emergency rule to stymie legal challenges to his re-election. Another decisive factor, analysts say, will be the strength of a sympathy vote for Bhutto?s party.

Musharraf, who retired from the army in November, rejects complaints of rigging and says procedures have been refined to prevent cheating. He says he is ready to work with whichever party forms a government and chooses a prime minister.

<B>Coalition between two of three</B>

He said on Saturday the vote would be fair and peaceful and he hoped for a stable government that would focus on tackling terrorism and economic growth. Many Pakistanis blame the government for rising prices and shortages of staples.

With none of the main parties - the PPP, the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and Sharif?s Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) - expected to secure a majority, a coalition between two of the three is likely.

Sharif?s party has said it will not enter government as long as Musharraf is president. The PPP has left options open. Party leaders were holding final meetings with candidates and planning final news conferences, party officials said.

Saturday?s suicide blast in Parachinar, near the Afghan border, was the latest in a string of attacks and the most bloody during the campaign. Militant violence, especially in the northwest, has surged since July when troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad.

Islamic parties are expected to fare badly but that is more to do with their failure to bring improvement in North West Frontier Province where they have ruled since the last election in 2002, analysts say.

Polls open at 8 a.m. and close at 5 p.m, local time. Ballots will be counted in polling stations and results are expected to start coming out towards midnight to-day. The trend in the battleground province of Punjab, where half the members of parliament will be elected, should be clear late to-morrow morning, with unofficial results out later in the day.

Nearly 81 million people, half the population, are registered to vote. Several hundred foreign observers and thousands of Pakistani observers will be monitoring the vote but they have not been allowed to do exit polls.

A European Union team is due to give a preliminary assessment tomorrow.

<B>Augustine ANTHONY</B>