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Pakistanis voted Wednesday for high-tension legislative elections that could see former cricket champion Imran Khan take power, but were mourned by a bloody suicide bombing.
The attack, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group left at least 31 dead and 70 wounded near a Quetta polling station in southwest Baluchistan province
"I will definitely vote. What happened can not prevent people from voting, "Ali Khan, 30, told AFP at Quetta hospital where he had come to help relatives.
In Islamabad, the chief of the European Union Election Observation Mission, Michael Gahlmer, condemned a "cowardly" attack aimed at "undermining the democratic process".
The attack further clouded a vote marked by previous attacks and heavy accusations of military interference in the election campaign, as well as increased visibility of extremist religious parties.
Some 106 million voters out of a population of 207 million are being called to ballot more than 85,000 polling stations. They will close at 1300 GMT.
The campaign, brief and acrimonious, has been portrayed by some observers as one of the "dirtiest" in its history because of numerous alleged manipulations, supposed to favor the ex-champion Cricket Imran Khan and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The experts believe however that the game remains open. "These elections are too tight, especially in (the province of) Punjab, who will decide everything," said badyst Azeema Cheema.
The other main contender for the post of prime minister is Shahbaz Sharif, brother of former head of government Nawaz Sharif, head of the PML-N party
Imran Khan voted in the middle of the day in Bani Gala, near Islamabad: "It is high time to put down the parties that have held this country hostage for years, "he said. Shahbaz Sharif did the same in Lahore, calling for "changing the fate of Pakistan".
Electors, men and women separated, also pressed in long queues in front of the polling stations, AFP found.
"I did not think any candidate would do anything good for us. But this time I came to vote on the insistence of my children, "said AFP Nazia Anees, a 31-year-old housewife in Karachi.
"Nawaz Sharif tried to discredit our army and by anger I voted PTI," said Khalid Mehmood, a 72-year-old man in a polling station in a working-clbad district of Lahore. [19659002AwesternobserverstationedinPunjabreporteda"calmorderlyandpeaceful"processandahighinfluxofpollingstations
Some 800,000 soldiers and police were deployed during the day to ensure the security of the vote. The Pakistani Electoral Commission has also extended judicial powers to polling officers at polling stations, raising the concern of some observers.
In addition to the Quetta attack, a police officer and a PTI activist were killed in two separate incidents in the west of the country, police said.
A series of bombings had already claimed the lives of some 180 people including three candidates at election rallies in mid-July. The security situation in the country remains much better than it was a few years ago.
– "New Pakistan" –
Voters, including nearly 20 million first-time voters, have to choose a successor to the Sharif Party, who has been in charge since 2013.
Imran Khan's chances of 'ouster the PML-N seem better than ever. Known as an old playboy in the West, he presents himself in his country in a much more conservative light on an anti-corruption program called "The Road to a New Pakistan."
But he is also known for flirting with extremist theses and accused of receiving the underhand support of the powerful army, which has ruled the country for half of its 71-year history. The latter defends itself from any "direct role" in the elections.
A third training, the PPP of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of the badbadinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, could be called to form a coalition with the winner
The campaign was also marked by a tug-of-war between the army and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, dismissed for corruption a year ago. Mr. Sharif, currently imprisoned, accuses him of doing everything to harm his party, including forcing his candidates to change their allegiance, to the benefit of the ITP.
million. Sharif is not alone in blaming the military: several major Pakistani media and political activists have complained in recent months that they have been kidnapped, censored and threatened to force them to shift their coverage of the PTI and PML-N. A research center equated these pressures with a "silent putsch" of the army.
AFP
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