President Pervez Musharraf's party today conceded defeat after opposition parties routed his government in the Pakistani elections.

The Pakistan Peoples Party, the party of the late Benazir Bhutto, and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif 's Pakistan Muslim League-N inflicted a heavy defeat on Musharraf's PML-Q.

The two challengers pushed the incumbent regime into a distant third place in the race for seats in the National Assembly. It means Mr Musharraf, who seized power in a military coup in 1999, faces impeachment and imprisonment unless he flees the country.

Out of the 272 assembly seats, 268 were up for grabs. Of the 229 declared seats this morning, PPP claimed 76, PML-N took 63, and PML-Q 33.

Fears of widespread vote-rigging and violence at polling booths failed to materialise yesterday. Officials said 19 people were killed in shootouts, but there were no suicide bomb attacks - the threat of which was believed to be responsible for a turnout of less than 40 per cent.

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Ahsan Zia, political commentator from Daily Waqt newspaper, said: "It is the worst possible result for Musharraf.

"Nawaz Sharif took an oath to restore the judiciary and impeach Musharraf before the elections. Musharraf is living on borrowed time. He could be gone within months.

"He has little support among the public. It is not just opposition to his foreign policy. The economy has been mismanaged, inflation has rocketed and there are shortages of basic foodstuffs."

The president, who stepped down as army chief in November, vowed to accept the "voice of the nation" before the elections. He had hoped last-minute horse-trading would lead to a deal with the PPP and see him staying on as a "father figure" to the new prime minister.

But the strong showing for Mr Sharif's party despite a sympathy vote for the PPP, led by Asif Ali Zardari - widower of Mrs Bhutto who was assassinated in a suicide attack in December - appears to have dashed those hopes.

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