The president of the main party that supports Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), has lost his seat as the results of Pakistan's elections start to come in.

Former prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was defeated in his seat in Punjab province by a rival from assassinated Benazir Bhutto's party the Pakistan People's Party, according to television networks.

Police backed by 80,000 troops have been on the streets to watch over the country's voting that could return a parliament set on driving President Pervez Musharraf from office.

Fears of violence kept many Pakistanis away from the polls, however some districts in capital Islamabad reported good voter turnout.

"The polling today was held peacefully and the turnout was also good. We did not expect people will come in such a large number but they came," said Naveed Akmal, who presided over a polling station in the capital.

The election was originally scheduled for January 8 but the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto after a rally in Rawalpindi on December 27 forced a delay.

The death of Ms Bhutto raised concern about stability in the nuclear-armed state, and the vote is being keenly watched by allies and neighbours.

A supporter of the opposition party led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was killed in a shooting in Punjab province shortly after polls opened, police said.

Suspected militants also set off bombs at two polling stations in the northwest before polls opened but no one was hurt.

Mr Musharraf's popularity plunged over the past year because of his manoeuvres to hold on to power which included purging the judiciary and imposing six weeks of emergency rule.

Many Pakistanis also blame the government for rising prices, shortages of staples and all too frequent power cuts.

Mr Musharraf has ruled since coming to power as a general in a coup in 1999, and a suicide attack on supporters of Ms Bhutto's party killed 47 people in a town near the Afghan border on Saturday.

The other worry is rigging, which could prompt opposition parties to reject the result and call for street protests, raising concern over how the powerful army would react.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.