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ISLAMABAD, Sunday (AFP)

Pakistan's government has flatly rejected a statement by EU observers which called the October 10 elections flawed, saying the conclusions were "unfortunate and not true."

Accusations that authorities interfered with the electoral process "is indeed unfortunate. This is just not true," a statement released late Saturday by the Ministry of Information said.

According to a preliminary EU report by the 88-strong observer team issued Saturday, the interference resulted in "serious flaws" in Pakistan's first general elections since President Pervez Musharraf toook power in a coup in 1999.

"There was no such policy or plan," the government statement said.

It also rejected accusations the Election Commission had failed to prevent such interference.

"The Commission is autonomous and is invested with statutory powers to enforce electoral laws and prevent malpractice."

European Union observers - while not singling out election day itself last Thursday as particularly problematic - said "the actions taken by authorities led to serious flaws in the process."

In a strongly-worded assement, the head of the observers John Cushnahan criticised unequal access to state resources and state media, limited political freedoms because of a ban on political rallies, and cast doubts on the independence of the election commission.

But the EU also took Musharraf to task for changing the constitution ahead of the elections, entrenching the military's role in politics and giving the president the right to sack parliament and the government. "Regrettably, the holding of a general election does not of itself guarantee the establishment of democracy. True democracy must ultimately lead to good governance," Cushnahan said.

"Successive civilian and military governments have failed in this regard," he said of Pakistan, which has been ruled by the armed forces for almost half of its 55-year-history.

The observations in a preliminary statement by the 88-strong observer team follow strong criticism by opposition parties and human rights groups at home and abroad of pre-poll rigging, but are in marked contrast to Commonwealth comments issued Friday.

Its observers called the elections mostly "transparent", but said it had doubts whether there had been a "truly level" playing field.

Meanwhile, Pakistanis were adjusting to a new political landscape in the country, where radical Islamists exploiting fierce anti-US sentiment - particularly in the northwest near the Afghan border - rocketed ahead.

The Islamic alliance, who increased their share of parliament tenfold - they ran as separate parties in 1997 - also took advantage of a disgruntled populace, angered over Musharraf's unquestioning support for the US self-declared war on terror.

The 18-month-old pro-government party Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) led the other parties on 78 seats, followed by banned ex-premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) with 62 seats. The other main opposition party, the once mighty Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif crashed to just 14 seats.

PML-N and PPP, whose leaders were barred, the one for corruption charges and the other for absconding from two corruption trials, cried foul and said the results had been rigged.

Bhutto called for a fresh election and said the vote count was rigged.

"It's a totally fraudulent, manipulated result," Bhutto told AFP by telephone on Friday from London, one of her two homes since she fled into exile in 1998. But late Saturday, PPP parliamentary leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim said the party was keeping its options open as to whether it would sit in the opposition or the new government.

"I have come with an open mind and open heart," he told reporters, adding he would soon hold talks with all parties "in the spirit of national reconciliation."

Musharraf meanwhile congratulated all the candidates who had won the elections.

"I am feeling proud at the fulfillment of yet another promise of my governmetn to hold free, fair and transparent elections," he said in a statement carried by official media.

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