Islamic hardliners will today test their strength against President Pervez Musharraf in local elections that are a gauge of the military ruler's ability to combat religious extremism and restore democracy in Pakistan six years after he seized power.

The polls, the first in three years, will be a defining moment for the US-backed army chief if Islamists win seats at the expense of the ruling party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Q), and the two main democratic opposition parties, whose leaders are in exile.