Imran emerges frontrunner in Pakistan polls overseen by army
BATTLEREADY Voting starts after one of the most chaotic, dangerous and distasteful campaigns
ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan goes to the polls on Wednesday, many have predicted a win for Imran Khan’s PTI party on the back of unprecedented army support and interference in the electoral system.
There are others who argue that the PTI, after poor performance in the past elections, has finally come of age. “We have three options. An untried party supported by the military and two parties which have ruled one after the other and have both been accused of corruption,” said Zarar Khuhro, an analyst with a local TV channel.
A total of 105.95 million voters will head to polls across the country, with voting scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Polling will close by 6 p.m and unofficial results will start pouring in by the early hours of Thursday.
Campaigning and rallies ended on Monday night. This was one of the most chaotic, dangerous and distasteful election campaigns in the country’s short electoral history where politicians and political parties sullied each other in every possible way, according to local media reports.
The campaign was marred by incidents of terrorism in different parts of the country but still thousands attended massive rallies, corner meetings and candidates visited their constituencies to woo voters.
Imran Khan’s prospects are bright. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has seen a dip in his popularity but his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif seems to retain a hold over his voters. Bilawal Bhutto, who did some extensive campaigning, isn’t being seen as a serious contender because his party is in disarray.
In his final campaign speech, Imran Khan talked about corruption, and, possibly for the first time, of India. He told his audience, “I want peace in Kashmir and the Indians should listen to the will of the people of Kashmir, adding “India is afraid of me and they know that I will not betray my country.”
He said he was not against friendship with India but it will not be acceptable at the expense of the Kashmir cause.
He also came down hard on Nawaz Sharif for disclosing information about the Mumbai terror attacks, which in his opinion has left the country in a predicament. Imran told the crowd that the opponents are giving a wrong impression that the PTI will mistreat the minorities when they come in to power. This, he said, is false propaganda.
The focus for most parties has been corruption. Sharif’s disqualification is the rallying point for his opponents. His PML-N has focused on the achievements of his government which include the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as well as the reduction in power outages.
It is possibly not the record of the parties involved that upsets some Pakistanis but the fact that the army continues to undermine the country’ s democratic system. “Over the years, army influence continues to wax and wane. Right now it is at its highest ever, short of a military government being in place,” said former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani. Many have called its a Generals’ election and not a general election.
Others refer to the polls as a dirty election. And yet, there are predictions of both high turnout in most places as well as relatively peaceful polling on Wednesday.
“The rigging,” said Khuhro, “has already taken place. On Wednesday, we are seeing a staged and peaceful show.”
International observers have complained of their work being obstructed by the caretaker government.
A trickling of foreign journalists has made it into the country. Most have been refused visas.
More than 370,000 soldiers and officers are being deployed at polling stations all over the country. Not only is this number unprecedented but also are the powers given to them, which equates the military officer with the election returning officer.
ATTACK KILLS 4 TROOPS AHEAD OF ELECTIONS
Militants killed four troops escorting an election convoy in the volatile southwestern province of Baluchistan on Tuesday, Intelligence officials said.
The attack, on the eve of elections, is the latest violence ahead of the balloting.