President Pervez Musharraf`s opponents have won a resounding victory in yesterday`s landmark parliamentary election, raising questions about his political future and breathing life into Pakistani democracy after eight years of military rule.

The Pakistan Muslim League (Q), which supports Mr Musharraf, conceded defeat after unofficial results showed it had lost more than two thirds of its seats in parliament as voters defied the threat of suicide attacks to vent their frustration with the President.

But while the two main opposition parties appeared to have swept the vote, neither commanded an outright majority, raising the prospect of an unstable coalition government in this volatile Muslim country of 165 million people.

Despite 470,000 police and troops on the streets, turnout was only 30-40 per cent due to a wave of suicide attacks by Islamic militants since July, including one that killed Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister, on December 27