Contest to determine future political course

LAHORE - Since the victory of PPP hopeful Asif Zardari in today's presidential election is a foregone conclusion now, the only interest left in the contest is the suspense as to the number of votes each candidate would secure at the end of the day.

With the PPP and the PML-N still at daggers drawn after latter's decision to quit the coalition and then to field its own presidential candidate, the analysts say that today's poll results would be reflective of each parties' strength, especially in the National Assembly, where they believe, the real battle is going to be fought after the presidential election.

In this context, the number game has become very important for all stakeholders, perhaps less for today's presidential election, but more so in the post-election scenario when country is likely to witness a political upheaval if the PML-N did not re-join the federal cabinet.