A party loyal to Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf emerged on top today after elections dismissed as flawed by European Union observers saw shock gains for hardline Islamists, leaving them major players.
The unprecedented gains for hardline Islamic groups threatened to change the political landscape in Pakistan and undermine Islamabad's support for the US-led war on terror.
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But observers from the EU issued a damning report on the poll today, slamming the authorities for using state resources to back particular parties and changing the constitution so the military retained ultimate power in Pakistan.
"The holding of a general election does not in itself guarantee the establishment of a democracy," the EU's chief election observer Mr John Cushnahan told a news conference. "Regrettably... the Pakistan authorities engaged in a course of action which resulted in serious flaws in the electoral process."
With just five of 272 constituency seats still to be confirmed, the Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-a-Azam - dubbed the "king's party" for its backing of Musharraf - had won 77 seats. The EU said PML (QA) had been one of the main beneficiaries of official attempts to interfere in the election.
But with no single party gaining a majority, newspapers predicted an intense period of political jockeying, and commentators and diplomats said it was hard to imagine a stable coalition government emerging in Pakistan.
The emergence of the religious right as the dominant force in the two provinces bordering Afghanistan could also complicate US efforts to track down al Qaeda and Taliban militants thought to be sheltering there, diplomats said.