Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, won Pakistan's presidential elections Saturday with a significant majority amid violence that killed at least 13 people and injured dozens. With the count completed for the upper and lower houses of the federal parliament and three of Pakistan's four provinces, Mr Zardari won 461 votes from an electoral college of 700.

The attack took place outside Peshawar, capital of the NWFP, less than two hours before voting for former president Pervez Musharraf's replacement was to officially close.

The death count was likely to rise as a number of people were thought to be buried under the rubble of two shopping centres which collapsed near the site of the blast.

"A vehicle laden with explosives went off near the police post which has been totally destroyed," said a senior police official.

Just after the attack, public protests broke out in the neighbourhood where the attack took place. "It is absolutely chaotic out here. The public is very angry and they are breaking everything within sight" said a senior government official in Peshawar who spoke to the FT.

The violence was the first major incident since Wednesday when US forces entered a small Pakistani village along the border with Afghanistan and killed up to 20 people, including women and children, according to Pakistani officials. The government official who spoke to the FT said; "the attack may be a retaliation for the attack on the border" village.

Leaders of Mr Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) expected him to secure between 400 and 500 seats out of a possible 700 federal and provincial MPs.

However, Mr Zardari's election has also divided the country, at a critical time when national unity has become increasingly significant, especially to lead Pakistan to unite in fighting militancy and terrorism.

Ahead of the presidential election, Pakistani officials ordered supplies to US and NATO troops in Afghanistan which passed through Pakistan, to be stopped. The order came in retaliation against Wednesday's attack.

A senior foreign ministry official in Islamabad told the FT, the blockade was essential "at least till there are discussions between Pakistani and US sides to sort out this matter. Pakistan, at the very least, expects assurances that there will never be a repeat of this kind of thing."

"The best hope for the future of our country is that Mr Zardari is the man who overseas our journey toward a more genuine parliamentary democracy. But the question is, will that happen?" asked Khurshid Ahmed, a member of the upper house of parliament, from the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the coalition of Islamic political parties.

Mr Zardari's election has exposed him to a renewal of past controversies including allegations of corruption against him, which his supporters say have never been conclusively proven.

Mr Zardari has also been accused by Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), of breaking the promise of restoring judges who were dismissed by former president Mr Musharraf last year.

The PPP and the PML-N last month broke ranks after the PPP refused to immediately restore those judges. "The president of Pakistan must be partisan and above board. The president's position must not be controversial" said Ahsan Iqbal, a leader of the PML-N.