COALITION QUESTIONS
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) had been expected to reap a sympathy vote, while Sharif's party is doing surprisingly well despite a mixed record as prime minister, when he clashed with the judiciary. His defiance of old foe Musharraf and support for the judges he purged had paid off, analysts said.
Seventy seats are reserved for women and religious minorities and allocated according to how many seats parties win. The total for the two opposition parties, with those allocations, looked set to be a majority.
Analysts say Musharraf wants a coalition between the PPP and the PML.
A victory for Sharif, who has repeatedly called for Musharraf's removal, or the inclusion of his party in a coalition with the PPP would be disastrous for the president.
He and Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, who now leads her party, vowed before the election to cooperate in the fight for democracy but made no specific commitment on a coalition.
Neither leader was available for comment on Tuesday. Zardari was due to meet his party leaders later in the day.
Some analysts said the differences between the two parties made a coalition doubtful.
"The Sharifs and the core leadership of the PPP agree on almost nothing ideologically," a Western diplomat said before the vote, referring to Nawaz Sharif and his brother, Shahbaz.
Some analysts said the decisive factor in the PML's defeat was Musharraf's unpopularity and resentment over inflation, food shortages and power cuts.
Groups of happy opposition supporters celebrated in the streets in cities across the country as results trickled out.
Musharraf has said he would accept the results and work with whoever won to build democracy in a country that has alternated between civilian and army rule throughout its 60-year history.
Fear appeared to have kept many people from the polls. An election watchdog group estimated turnout of 35 percent.
Twenty people were killed in election violence, including, Zardari said, 15 PPP activists.
A secular ethnic Pashtun nationalist party was winning in North West Frontier Province, defeating Islamic parties that won there in the last elections in 2002.
