Islamabad: Pakistan's first Parliamentary Elections since General Pervez Musharraf seized power almost three years ago are a sideshow to the real contest; a bitter power struggle between the military and civilian elites, analysts said.

"It's a naked and brutal power struggle between Musharraf's generals, who want to hold on to Presidential power, and the civilian opposition," political commentator Imtiaz Alam told sources.

Musharraf late July 10 announced an October 10 date for elections for the National Assembly and the four provincial Assemblies, just beating a deadline set by the Supreme Court eight months after he overthrew an elected government in an October 1999 bloodless coup.

But observers and political parties say the polls are a window-dressing, pointing to the rash of new restrictions on candidates and a series of Presidential power- bolstering steps in proposed constitutional amendments.

Musharraf has already extended his un-elected Presidency by five years in a farcical April 30 referendum, plagued by widespread allegations of rigging and vote stuffing. A month later he made a humiliating apology on national television, acknowledging "some improper cases of voting."

The proposed Constitutional changes, unveiled in June, cement his power even further, allowing him to sack an elected Prime Minister, Parliament and Cabinet. They also invest powers in a Musharraf-led National Security Council, at least half the member’s generals, to declare a state of emergency and advise on sacking governments.

The July 6 ban effectively eliminates his main rivals, twice-elected Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, whose supporters are stopped from rallying publicly by police and paramilitaries.

Bhutto and Sharif, the son and daughter of separate political dynasties, dominated the political arena for more than a decade before the Musharraf coup, as each rose and fell from power twice.

Bhutto's entry to politics in 1986 was to avenge previous military dictator General Zia ul-Haq for overthrowing her father, former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in 1977. She was first elected Prime Minister in 1988, and again in 1993. The civilian-military duel dates back decades, and has seen the generals dominate Pakistan politics for more than half of Pakistan's 55-year history.