Polling stations close in Pakistan elections marred by bombing that left 31 voters dead
Pakistan’s polls closed last night after a closely fought general election marred by a suicide bombing that killed 31.
Tens of millions of voters turned out for a poll that could push former national cricket captain Imran Khan to power in the nuclear-armed nation of 210 million.
Results are expected to trickle in overnight from 85,000 polling stations, with the outcome of the country’s second democratic transition of power starting to emerge early today.
Pakistan’s largest ever election day security operation with more than 370,000 troops failed to stop an ISIS bomber from causing carnage outside a Quetta polling station.
The local branch of the extremist group said it had tried to target a police chief but he had escaped.
Officials said the bomber had tried to enter a polling station and had then detonated when he was stopped at the door by police.
“Suddenly there was a huge blast. I was flung on the ground and I thought that I was about to die,” madrassa teacher Hafiz Kareem told AFP.
Sporadic clashes between the two leading rival parties also raised fears that any result could be met by violence.
Pre-election polls had shown little difference in support between Mr Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (Pakistan Justice Movement) and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League.
In the worst skirmish, rival activists in the Punjabi city of Khanewal opened fire on each other, hurled clubs and threw stones. Four people were taken to hospital with bullet wounds and one of them died.
The PML-N, Pakistan’s largest party, won a landslide in 2013 and seemed destined to repeat the feat this month. But the legal hurdles faced by the Sharif family in the past year has left the party debilitated and struggling for survival against its main rival.
Mr Sharif has said the legal action is not coincidental. He was jailed nearly a fortnight ago after a corruption trial.
His candidates say they have been pressured to switch to Mr Khan’s centre-right party and the media has been harassed.
Disliked by the military for his attempts to build bridges with India and for confronting generals over their use of militant proxies, he claims the army has retaliated by trying to weaken his party.
Such an onslaught may have destroyed another party but PML-N is not yet written off.
Mr Sharif’s return to Pakistan to face jail has allowed him to
portray himself as a political martyr, and the party remains a potent political force under his younger brother Shahbaz, particularly in Punjab.
Meanwhile, 22 years after founding his party, Mr Khan has his best shot at taking power. His platform, comprised of attacks on the country’s political elite and corruption, has been strengthened by the jailing of Mr Sharif.
But some fear Mr Khan’s temperamental nature and lack of management skills are unsuited to his being prime minister.
He is renowned for making policy u-turns and has raised eyebrows by catering to religious hardliners, spurring fears his leadership could embolden extremists.
Voting followed a bitterly fought campaign. Mr Khan’s platform of railing against the corruption and incompetence of Pakistan’s political elite has excited a new generation of young voters.
But the centre-right PML-N said he is the candidate of the country’s powerful military and benefits from a concerted attempt by the security establishment to undermine Mr Sharif for daring to stand up to the generals.
Mr Khan has shed the playboy image of his cricketing heyday and has cultivated a more conservative and devout persona. He has promised to create 10 million jobs and build an Islamic welfare state complete with world-class hospitals and schools.
The PML-N, now led by Shahbaz Sharif, has been touting its success in reducing militant violence and improving the country’s electricity supply.
“Imran Khan is a great person, and we want a new person to come in and lead us,” said Mohammed Hamza, 21, an engineering student who voted in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
“We need change because we have seen all the other leaders are the same. The main issue is corruption, and Imran Khan will deal with this very well.”
He dismissed suggestions that the army was engaged in poll rigging to handicap the PML-N and favour Mr Khan.
“The army is the most patriotic part of our country, the backbone of our country,” Mr Hamza said. “If anything bad happens, then they step in. These are just lame excuses to cover up their own bad stuff.”
His brother Mohammed Bilal, 27, disagreed. The businessman said: “The army is not being open about it but everyone knows the army is supporting Imran Khan because Nawaz Sharif argued with them so much. Corruption is a problem, but I think the PML-N have changed.”
Malik Akhtar, a Khan supporter voting in Rawalpindi, said he had chosen to support the candidate because the 1992 cricket World Cup hero was not a corrupt individual.
“He wants to make a better Pakistan. He wants other countries to respect Pakistan,” Mr Akhtar told The National.
As the day wore on, the parties began to list claims of irregularities. All three requested extensions to polling, complaining that voting was too slow at some stations. But the election commission rejected them and voting closed at 5pm.
While Mr Khan’s party has edged marginally ahead in polling in recent weeks, the forecasts suggest he will not win a majority.
A hung parliament will mean protracted horse-trading and coalition building as the country needs a legitimate new leader to deal with challenges.
The country is heading towards a debt crisis and is expected to need a bailout from the International Monetary Fund as soon as September or October. Foreign currency reserves have dwindled sharply and the rupee has devalued three times since December.
Relations with its nuclear armed rival India are at an alltime low and, in the longer term, the country is short of water for its rapidly growing population.
If Pakistan’s election results in a hung parliament, negotiations will stall the handling of some urgent problems