Pakistan stands at the crossroads: – The choice is between democracy or the deep state



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On Wednesday, 106 million Pakistanis voters will decide whether today 's government party should continue or whether its future depends on an untested and controversial candidate.

The times, but there are only a few who will be at the head of the National Assembly.

Here are the candidates:

1. Shehbaz Sharif and PML-N

The PML-N, which represents the Muslim League of Pakistan (Nawaz), has ruled the country since 2013. A year ago, the party had a length of one year. advance on the polls.

Pakistan had major problems with the power outage, but for five years under PML-N, these became less and less numerous. The government has increased the capacity of electricity. According to them, they have increased capacity by 10,973 megawatts in the past five years, writes Pakistan Today.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is the brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was removed from office. He is now in jail after handing over to the police on July 13th. He claims that the army played a role in the game to get rid of him.

2. Imran Khan and PTI

The biggest challenger of PML-N is Imran Khan and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). He has appeared as a favorite of some of the latest polls.

Khan is a former cricket star who won the 1992 World Cup for Pakistan. He led an election campaign focused on the fight against corruption. His two biggest opponents have accusations of corruption hanging over him.

Khan failed to become prime minister in 2013 when PTI received nearly 17 percent support. Now, some polls show that his party has a smell of 30%.

3. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and PPP

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, 29, and his party of the Pakistan People's Party are unlikely to win this election this year.

But it can still play an important role when election results are available. If none of the favorites gets a clear majority, Zardari can support one of them as prime minister.

Zardari is part of the Bhutto-Zardari dynasty. He is the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, assassinated in 2007. She remained the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the prime minister who was executed after a coup in the military state in 1979. [19659016] No prime minister in Pakistan has completed his five year period.

  • Nawaz Sharif, who has been prime minister three times, was removed from office all the time. In 1993, he was dismissed by a military coup, and in 2017, he was fired by the Supreme Court because of the corruption lawsuit.
  • The military and the powerful ISI intelligence service play an important role in Pakistan's political life. There have been a number of military coups in the country.
  • The Army casts a shadow on the election

    The election campaign was overshadowed by many statements about the work of the army in the scenes. In particular, the army attacked the government party PML-N in three ways, according to The Economist:

    1. By the Courts

    This is not just the Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif who saw inside a prison. Several PML-N politicians who have been opposed to candidates with the army in the back have been jailed in recent years.

    2. Through the Media

    The PML-N government party and the Zardari PPP party both claimed that the media had been in a hurry lately. The country's largest TV channel, Geo, was pulled off the air in April and did not return after accepting several guidelines that limited what it could bring back.

    3. Through Threats

    In the popular Punjab, traditionally Pakistan's most powerful province, several PML-N candidates claim to have been threatened by the military and the military. intelligence services to move to the PTI party of Imran Khan. At least 30 members left the government party.

    The army also plans to deploy 371,000 soldiers on polling day. That's four times more than in the last election, despite the fact that security has become much better since that time

    The Army keeps Sharif at bay

    – There is no doubt that the The army and the power plant have a very great power in Pakistan, says Professor Elisabeth Eide at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Oslo Met.

    She says that we can not know if Khan and the army cooperate, but that the army is by no means a great follower of Sharif. The armed forces stood at arm's length for him. And Sharif has sometimes criticized military leaders, says Eide

    – We do not always know who is behind the threats to, say, the media – and the recent sanctions against them and against individual journalists.

    has already reigned in Pakistan without understanding with the army and with traditional Muslim leaders. It's the balance that you have to go and in any case not against you.

    Issues

    Eide sets a number of challenges that the new prime minister can solve:

    • The economy is a big challenge. The Pakistani rupee is almost in free fall. Pakistan has a large and growing external debt.
    • Relationship with the powerful neighbor India is freezing and costing the country in the form of military spending.
    • 30% v the population lives below the poverty line
    • The education system needs a revision. There is 40% illiteracy in Pakistan. The figure is even higher among women

    – It will be an exciting choice, "says Eide

    – The election is also synonymous with the development of democracy or the deep state with the military leaders will have more impact. 19659042] [ad_2]
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