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After an election campaign darkened by violence and allegations of fraud, Pakistanis voted for a new government faced with the collapse of the economy and the bloodshed of militants whose the last suicide attack left 31 dead.
The parliamentary vote only marked the second time in the 71-year history of Pakistan that one civilian government ceded power to another in the country of 200 million people.
The election campaign also raised serious concerns about manipulation by the military, which directly or indirectly directed the country for most of its existence
. The main contenders are Imran Khan, former cricket star, and Shahbaz. Sharif, the younger brother of disgraced Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has been imprisoned on corruption charges.
Early unofficial results give Khan and his Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaf party a decisive lead over the Pakistani Islamic League of its main rival Sharif, and Khan's party headquarters in Islamabad is congested of dancing partisans. "We will sweep the elections," said Abdul Basit, who watched the results on a big-screen television.
A few hours after the opening of the polls, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew up his explosives in a crowd waiting to vote in the southwest Quetta city. In addition to the 31 dead, the attack wounded 35 people, said Dr. Jaffar Kakar, a hospital official. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility, but local authorities quickly blamed the Islamic State group.
The attack in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, highlighted the difficulties faced by the Muslim majority. Baluchistan also experienced the worst violence during this month's election campaign, when a suicide bomber unleashed a political rally, killing 149 people, including candidate Siraj Raisani.
400 others were wounded. IS claimed responsibility for this attack.
Baluchistan has been under constant attack by both secessionists in the province and Sunni militants who have killed hundreds of Shiites.
The army deployed 350,000 soldiers in the polling stations of the country. The vice president of the Asia Center of the Washington-based US Institute for Peace said that political violence was rare in Pakistan, while Wednesday's attack in Baluchistan appeared to be the only way out. the work of a terrorist group. problem and will probably not affect political stability, "Yusuf said.
" Unfortunately, Pakistanis have gone through so much violence that they are desensitized. "
Yusuf said that the main challenge for the next government will be the economic crisis.
"The new government is going to be in an unenviable position, and especially Imran Khan, because he is not the favorite prime minister of the two main traditional bosses of the Pakistan, China and the United States. "
Khan was a harsh critic of the US-led war in Afghanistan, and Imran Khan brandished the Pakistani flag after winning the World Cup at the CWM in 1992.
Khan's supporters showered his vehicle with rose petals while he arrived to vote near his home in the capital of # 39; Islamabad. Electoral Commission spokesman Nadeem Qasim told the Associated Press that the commission had told Khan that his vote could be disqualified because he had set his sights on voters. vote in front of the television cameras, in violation of the constitutional provisions on "the secrecy of the ballot."
The video footage showed a smiling Khan with his ballot in front of him as he marked it
While the first results gave Khan an advantage, Maryam Aurangzeb of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League raised first allegations of electoral fraud and warns that his supporters could revolt if the charges prove correct.
"We will not allow anyone to steal the mandate that the nation has entrusted to us," she said at a press conference.
"Up to now, we control our supporters, but we will not be able to convince them to exercise restraint if the results are manipulated against our party."
At the end of the vote, the festive supporters of the two parties gathered The third largest party is the Left People's Pakistan Party, led by Bilawal Bhutto, the son of the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, assassinated by Pakistani Taliban, that she had promised to eradicate.
More than 11,000 candidates run for 270 seats in the Pakistani National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, and 577 seats in four provincial assemblies. According to Pakistani law, separate seats are reserved for women and non-Muslim minorities, who represent 4% of the population
The 85,307 polling stations were open 10 hours, an hour more than in 2013 Voting for two parliamentary seats and six seats in provincial assemblies have been postponed due to attacks against candidates or disqualifications. The final results are expected early Thursday
There are more than 105 million voters – 59 million men and 46 million women.
Election officials reminded candidates that their results would be nullified if women's participation did not reach 10%. The requirement was imposed after the 2013 elections, when several regions banned voting by women, primarily in religiously conservative North West. Some candidates won without a single woman scoring a vote.
Rights activist Tahira Abdullah said on Tuesday that local jirgas, or councils, from 60 regions representing 16 different constituencies had signed agreements barring women from voting despite the new decision. The women voted Wednesday for the first time in North Waziristan, deeply tribal and religiously conservative, where the Taliban insurgents have taken refuge.
"We made history today," said government administrator Mohamad Ayaz Khan. "It's the first time women have come out of their homes to vote."
Voting is by gender in all polling stations in Pakistan.
The early vote was heavy in Islamabad and the provincial capital of Punjab, with several political party leaders lining up to vote. Local television reported scattered cases of police arresting people with pre-marked bulletins.
One concern is the unprecedented participation of radical religious groups, including those banned from links to terrorism but resurrected under different names. Jibran Nasir, an independent candidate from the Karachi Financial Center, said that he had received death threats and even had a fatwa, or religious edict, issued against him.
He had refused to condemn the Ahmadis, accused by the traditional Muslims of being heretics because they believe that the Messiah promised in Islam has arrived there are more and more. a century. In 1974, Pakistan declared that Ahmadis were non-Muslims
International and domestic election observers will monitor the vote.
The European Union Election Observation Mission has 120 observers in the main centers of Pakistan, with the exception of Balochistan.
On Wednesday, supporters of two opposing political parties killed one person and injured two others in a northwestern village. Swabi city. Later, more clashes between rival parties killed another person and injured 15 others.
© Nine Digital Pty Ltd. 2018
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