MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed in Peshawar. (AFP)

Islamabad, Aug. 27 (Reuters): Government parties in Pakistan claimed victory today in the second round of local elections, but the Opposition Islamist alliance denounced the poll saying a fair vote was impossible under President Pervez Musharraf.

The elections were officially held on a non-party basis but were keenly contested by political factions to consolidate their power bases ahead of general elections in 2007 which are expected to result in Musharraf staying in power.

The Election Commission said it was still counting ballots from Thursday’s second round and an official announcement on winning candidates was expected tomorrow.

The pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League said candidates backed by the ruling coalition fared well in all four provinces including the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) ruled by an Opposition Islamist alliance.

“Like the first phase, we have also swept the second phase,” Tariq Azim Khan, a spokesman for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, said.

“We have maintained our majority in Punjab, which has been our stronghold, as well as in Sindh and Baluchistan,” he said.

“We have done well even in NWFP, contrary to what has been said before the elections. Results in NWFP show people have rejected extremism.”

But Islamists denounced the elections as rigged and said they took part in the polls “only to expose the regime before the world”.

“The results are totally managed, planned and rigged,” Liaquat Baluch, deputy secretary-general of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal alliance said. “It shows that free and fair elections are not possible in the presence of General Musharraf.”

Musharraf yesterday hailed the outcome of the poll as “defeat for extremists”.

MMA won control of NWFP and shared power in Baluchistan, thanks in part to anti-American sentiment fuelled by the US-led war on terrorism launched in Afghanistan in late 2001.