Pakistanis voted on Wednesday in a knife-edge general election pitting cricket hero Imran Khan against the party of jailed ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, with the prospect of neither winning a clear majority. A decade after Pakistan was last ruled by a military government, the election has been plagued by allegations the powerful armed forces have been trying to tilt the race in Khan's favour after falling out with the outgoing ruling party of Sharif, who was jailed on corruption charges this month. The most recent opinion polls say the two parties are running neck-and-neck. Khan has emerged as a slight favourite in national polls, but the divisive race is likely to come down to Punjab, the country's most populous province, where Sharif's party has clung to its lead in recent surveys. Even as Pakistan came out to vote on Wednesday, several attacks marred the elections. A suicide bomber killed at least 29 people near a polling centre. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in the western city of Quetta, where security sources said the bomber drove his motorcycle into a police vehicle. A few others were also killed in separate attacks elsewhere in the trouble-torn state. Earlier this month, a suicide bomber killed 149 people at an election rally in the town of Mastung in Baluchistan province. That attack was also claimed by Islamic State militants. About 371,000 soldiers have been stationed at polling stations across the country to prevent attacks, nearly five times the number deployed at the last election in 2013. About 106 million people are registered to vote in polls due to close at 6 p.m (1300 GMT). Results will start trickling in within hours, and the likely winner should be known by around 2 a.m. on Thursday.
Stay tuned for LIVE updates:
Jul 25, 2018 6:02 pm (IST)
Imran Khan: Will the 'Sultan of Swing' be the New 'King' of Pakistan? | The jury is still divided over Imran Khan, the chairman of Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who ran a strong campaign on an anti-corruption message. For some he is akin to Donald Trump and for some he is the ‘messiah’ Pakistan needs today. But most observers agree that the cricketer-turned-politician is the frontrunner in the Pakistan elections. Khan’s rise in politics has been controversial but meteoric. In 1996 Khan formed his party PTI and fought the election in 1997 from two constituencies—NA-53 (Mianwali) and NA- 94 (Lahore)—but lost both to PML-N candidates. For the next four years he didn’t do much in the political spectrum other than his covert support for General Pervez Musharraf. In the 2002 elections, he won only his own seat from Mianwali and that’s when his tied with army and his right-wing inclinations started to surface. It was during this time that Khan was strongly linked to the Lt Gen Hameed Gul, the former head of the ISI.
Jul 25, 2018 5:57 pm (IST)
About 106 million people are registered to vote in Pakistan polls due to close at 6 p.m (1300 GMT). Results will start trickling in within hours, and the likely winner should be known by around 2 a.m. on Thursday. Whichever party wins, it will face a mounting and urgent in-tray, from the economic crisis to worsening relations with on-off ally the United States to deepening cross-country water shortages.
The 2018 poll is considered a vital step for Pakistan, and represents only the second democratic transition in a country ruled by the military for roughly half its history.
Jul 25, 2018 5:49 pm (IST)
Opinion polls say the two parties are running neck-and-neck. Imran Khan has emerged as a slight favourite in national polls, but the divisive race is likely to come down to Punjab, the country's most populous province, where Nawaz Sharif's party has clung to its lead in recent surveys.
Jul 25, 2018 5:46 pm (IST)
Pakistanis voted on Wednesday in a knife-edge general election pitting cricket hero Imran Khan against the party of jailed ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, with the prospect of neither winning a clear majority. A decade after Pakistan was last ruled by a military government, the election has been plagued by allegations the powerful armed forces have been trying to tilt the race in Khan's favour after falling out with the outgoing ruling party of Sharif, who was jailed on corruption charges this month.
LIVE NOW
BAN
PAK
SL
NEP