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Millions of Pakistani voters voted in a general election assaulted by allegations of military interference and were marked by the death of at least 31 people during the war. a suicide bombing outside a polling station in the eastern city of Quetta. A bloody campaign in which 151 people were killed two weeks ago in Pakistan's second deadliest terrorist attack, an activist blew up on Wednesday after polling stations opened.
The national vote was considered a two-horse race between the Pakistani-Nawaz Muslim League (PML-N), a party long established in power for five years, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) , formed by former cricketer Imran Khan to try to break the hidden nation's politics.
About 106 million registered voters were given the chance to participate in what will be only the second transfer of power from one civilian government to another in the history of 71 years of the coup d'etat # 39; State. Polls were closed at 6 pm local time
The campaign was hit by claims from human rights groups, multi-party political leaders, and media organizations. 39, interference by the army. The PML-N claimed that the military favored the PTI because the former PML-N prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, had tried to reduce military power before being overthrown by a decision. of the Supreme Court last July.
indicated that the ITP was slightly ahead of the PML-N. Roshan had three points ahead of the ITP, 29% nationally, figures that, according to Gallup, were "pretty close" to his own conclusions.
Outside a polling station in Islamabad, Samir Zahid told the Guardian rampant corruption "in Pakistan." He brought us the Cricket World Cup, Shaukat Khanum Hospital. 100%, he will keep his promises, "said the 22-year-old man.
At a plastic table in a street cafe, Muhammad Junaid, 20, showed the Guardian an ink stain on his thumb and said that he had voted for Khan because the others parties had not met expectations.
"We tried all the others," he said, a common chorus. His 20-year-old friend Muhammad Salman said Khan was certain to win, helped by a generation of young fans who could not vote in 2013.
Muhammad Ali, a PML voter -N, said: interposed in the vote because Sharif had "refused to greet them" while he was in power.
The electoral commission censured Khan on Wednesday for making a political speech after voting in Islamabad, breaking a ban on campaigning.
During the 20 minute speech, Khan called Sharif an agent of the former enemy of Pakistan, India. Other leaders also made speeches in violation of the ban.
There were anecdotal reports of low turnout at the polls, and Geo News reported that the numbers were down 5% in the crucial Punjab province.
Nearly 400,000 soldiers were stationed inside 89,500 polling stations. in 2013, only one fifth of this number was deployed despite a much more serious security situation.
Allegations of interference were mainly made in the tribal region of North Waziristan, where Mohsin Dawar, leader of the Pashtun Protective Movement (PTM), an anti-civil rights group military, presented himself as an independent candidate.
"These are not elections but selections," said a supporter in a video clip shared on social media. The supporter claimed that the soldiers had prevented Dawar voters from entering the booths.
Women from the very conservative northern regions of Dir, Kohistan, and Waziristan voted for the first time in decades, and photographs of long lines of women in burqas were widely celebrated.
Whoever forms the next government will have to deal with a worsening economy. The value of the rupee has fallen in recent months and Pakistan may have to ask for a bailout at the IMF, which could lead to austerity measures.
At midnight Monday, leaders of all political parties suspended their campaigns, in accordance with the electoral rules. Khan and Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz's brother, who assumed the post of president of the PML-N, concluded by hammering their key messages of the campaign in Punjab, which brings in 141 of the 272 seats in the National Assembly.
between five gatherings in Lahore, the capital of the province. He attacked the Sharif family and blamed the poor state of public services on their corruption. "Where did your money go when it was not spent? He went to London," he told supporters.
Sharif argued that the PML-N had delivered to Pakistan, repairing energy shortages that had previously led to day-to-day power outages. He sought to build sympathy for his brother, saying that he now had to use a "dirty toilet" and that he was denied urgent medical attention.
Khan's chances of making the necessary incursions in Punjab, where the PTI won only a handful of seats in 2013, improved after his recruitment of politicians considered more elective . These uncontrollable and voluminous politicians brought with them voting booths but also criticisms that the ITP had lost sight of its anti-corruption agenda. Several have joined because of Khan's public defense of Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws, which order the death penalty.
The historically liberal Pakistani People's Party (PPP) disappeared outside of its strongholds in Sindh province, but its 29-year-old leader, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, fought a widely acclaimed campaign that fortified supporters. With a coalition government on the cards, the PPP could become a kingmaker.
Early reports suggest that right-wing Islamist parties could make historic gains after attracting unprecedented crowds. Tehreek-e-Labbaik, a new party founded solely to promote the death of blasphemers, had almost as many candidates in Punjab as established political organizations.
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