JEDDAH/RIYADH, 1 May — As people in Pakistan voted yesterday in a referendum to extend President Pervez Musharraf’s term for another five years, a large crowd of enthusiastic Pakistani expatriates was seen queuing near the polling stations in Jeddah too. The voting started at 9:00 a.m. and continued till 7:00 p.m. in a smooth, peaceful and transparent manner.

Expatriate Pakistanis started gathering even before the start of the polling near all the seven polling stations spread in different cities of the Kingdom. The counting of the votes began immediately after the polling was over. In Riyadh, one person was briefly detained by the police for questioning during the polling which was by and large peaceful. An activist of Pakistani Awami Tehrik, M. Shakoor was picked up by the police when he tried to create some disturbance near one of the polling stations.

While Pakistan’s Ambassador Asad Durrani voted at the Pakistani Embassy booth, Consul General Nawaz Chaudhry exercised his right of franchise at Jeddah.

The major opposition parties in Pakistan have questioned the legality of the referendum and boycotted it saying they would not accept the results. But there are people who think otherwise. They feel that after the decision of Pakistan’s Supreme Court upholding the referendum, the question of its legality does not arise.

"I am a responsible citizen and since the Supreme Court has legalized the referendum, we should not have doubts about it," said Khalid Hussain adding, "I hope the president will also fulfill his promises."

Praising the president for his honesty and transparency, Muhammad Anwar, a manager at a business house said, "Musharraf is like a fresh breeze in Pakistan’s politics. His image is clean and straight forward and he commands support in cross section of society. That is why I voted for him." A working woman Fahima Khalid said, "Today my top priority was to cast my vote because Musharraf has enhanced our country’s image worldwide." Another voter, Huma Qasim, who was leading a group of women, said, "Musharraf’s stay in power will ensure stability and growth of the country and that is why I came to vote."

Similar were the sentiments expressed by many others. "After a long time Pakistan has got a leader of world class caliber and acceptability. He is working to realize the dreams of the middle class Pakistanis. These are the reasons I voted for him," said Khalid Moghul. The process of reforms started by Musharraf was the other factor which motivated the voters in his favor. Noor Muhammad and Jawed Iqbal said, "the reform process needs further boost and for that Musharraf’s continuance is a must."

Some lauded Musharraf’s diplomacy and modern approach. Samina Shiekh said, "Musharraf has instilled a sense of security and modernity among us. It was due to him that the world was looking at us with great hope." There were some others also who think it’s fun to have a right to vote. "I got my passport ready in two days and voted in a referendum," said Zeeshan, a college student who turned 18 on April 25.

But a few others, having affiliation with a religious party, called the whole exercise a farce. "We believe in the supremacy of the constitution and can’t even think of participating in extra-constitutional events," said one. "When all arrangements have been made to win the referendum, why was so much money being wasted?"

"I am not going to vote, no use at all. Why waste time for an exercise whose result is already known," said another.

All said and done one thing was very clear that people were looking very enthusiastic about the whole thing. And if the voters’ turnout in the Kingdom is a barometer to judge Musharraf’s popularity among the "silent majority," it seems he has a vast constituency of followers, specially among the younger generation.