Pakistan polls were held on Wednesday to elect a new government and prime minister. It was only the second democratic transition of power in Pakistan’s 70-year coup-studded history.
But the election was marred by allegations of military interference. There was a series of deadly attacks. Up to 8 lakh, police and military forces were stationed. There were more than 85,000 polling stations across the country as the voting took place.
Pakistan has a population of 207 million people out of which only 106 million are registered voters. The voting for the Pakistan election took place between 8:00 am local time (8:30 am IST) and 6:00 pm (6:30 pm IST). It saw more than 3,000 candidates contesting for 272 general seats of the National Assembly. Some 8,000 candidates ran for 577 general seats of the four provincial assemblies – Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Pak-occupied Balochistan. The three key parties contesting were former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) or PML-N, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan‘s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or PTI, and former (late) prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s party Pakistan Peoples Party, which is being headed by her son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The contest is said to be a close one between Nawaz Sharif’s party and Imran Khan’s party. The counting of votes began soon after polling was concluded. The results were expected to be announced within 24 hours. The Election Commission has blamed delays in the results on technical failures. They have promised to investigate complaints.
Cricket star Imran Khan is leading in the slow counting of votes in the Pakistan polls. PTI has maintained a steady lead in the vote count. Election officials say it will be Thursday evening local time before an official count is confirmed. This will decide Pakistan’s next government. But before even half the votes were counted, Khan’s leading rival, Shahbaz Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League, the party of jailed ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, rejected the vote. This generated fears that disgruntled losers could delay the formation of the next government.
