Ruling coalition claims winning polls

The ruling coalition said on Sunday it had swept the first round of local bodies' polls seen as a trial run for 2007 general elections, boosting President Pervez Musharraf's own election prospects.
However, opponents of the pro-military government denounced results from Thursday's vote for local councillors in 53 of country's 110 districts as rigged.
In announcing the results late on Saturday, the Election Commission did not give political affiliations of the winners in the officially non-party elections, but political groups openly backed candidates to try to ensure their power bases.
The Pakistan Muslim League said candidates backed by the ruling coalition swept the polls in three of four provinces.
Tariq Azim Khan, the spokesman for the ruling party, said they also improved their position in NWFP, which is ruled by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal.
"For sure we have got majorities in Punjab and Balochistan. We and our allies are leading in Sindh," he told Reuters.
The opposition Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians accused the government of rigging the polls to ensure the success of pro-government candidates.
"The federal and provincial ministers pressurised election officials to recount the votes where our candidates have won with big margins," said Raza Rabbani, leader of the opposition in Senate and a senior aide to Benazir Bhutto.
"It looks that the Election Commission is colluding with the ruling party to alter the results," he told Reuters.
However, he said the opposition would still take part in elections being held in remaining districts on August 25.
"We want to expose the fallacy of their claim that a free and fair elections can be held under the current dispensation."
The councillors will elect powerful district and sub-district chiefs, known as Nazims, who can use their political clout to influence voting in 2007 general elections.
The PML spokesman said it was too early to say how many seats the ruling coalition had won but it had also fared well in the NWFP.
Local media reports suggested the MMA's dominance in the NWFP was also reduced by the opposition Awami National Party.