Whose side are they on?
Pakistanis vote in by-election seen as test of support for ousted PM Sharif.
LAHORE: Pakistanis began casting votes for the parliamentary seat vacated by ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in a by-election seen as a test of support for the Sharif dynasty ahead of the 2018 general election.
Sharif’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party hoped a victory in Lahore would show that support for the family was undiminished despite the Supreme Court’s removal of Sharif in July.
Sharif ’s daughter Maryam has spearheaded the PML-N campaign for her mother Kulsoom, who is the party candidate despite receiving cancer treatment in London with Nawaz at her side.
Maryam has framed the poll as a chance for voters to give a bloody nose to the judiciary by handing the party a thumping victory.
Opposition leader Imran Khan – whose threats of street protests pushed the Supreme Court to launch a probe into Nawaz’s wealth – is seeking to build on the success of his anti-graft crusade by making inroads into Sharifs’ power base in Punjab.
The Supreme Court in July disqualified Sharif because he did not declare a monthly salary from a company owned by his son when the veteran leader, who had held power twice in the 1990s, became prime minister for the third time. Sharif denies receiving the salary. Khan has turned the by-election into a plebiscite about graft and has accused the provincial Punjab government, run by Nawaz’s brother Shahbaz, of abusing state resources to help the PML-N campaign.
Analysts predicted PML-N would win again, but they said Khan’s party would build momentum ahead of the 2018 polls if PTI candidate Yasmin Rashid substantially reduced the PML-N’s 40,000 vote-winning margin from 2013.