Bombing kills 31 outside polling place during parliamentary vote
After an election ISLAMABAD — campaign overshadowed by violence and allegations of fraud, Pakistanis voted Wednesday for a new government that will face challenges of a crumbling economy and ongoing bloodshed by militants whose latest attack saw a suicide bomber kill 31 people outside a polling station.
The parliamentary balloting marked only the second time in Pakistan’s 71-year history that one civilian government has handed power to another in the country of 200 million people. There also have been widespread concerns during the election campaign about manipulation by the military, which has directly or indirectly ruled the country for most of its existence.
The leading contenders are Imran Khan, a former cricket star, and Shahbaz Sharif, the younger brother of disgraced Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has been jailed on corruption charges.
Early unofficial results give Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party a commanding lead over his main rival Sharif ’s Pakistan Muslim League, and Khan’s party headquarters in Islamabad was crowded with dancing followers who sensed a victory.
“We will sweep the elections,” said Abdul Basit, who watched the results on a large TV screen.
Hours after the polls opened, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated his explosives in a crowd waiting to vote in the southwestern city of Quetta. In addition to the 31 dead, the attack wounded 35 people, said Dr. Jaffar Kakar, a hospital official. No one immediately claimed responsibility, but local officials were quick to blame the Islamic State group.
The military had deployed 350,000 troops at polling stations across the country.
Moeed Yusuf, associate vice president of the Asia Center at the Washington-based U.S. Institute of Peace, said politically motivated mob violence is rare in Pakistan, while Wednesday’s attack in Baluchistan appeared to be the work of a terrorist group.
“Terrorist violence is a different issue altogether and is unlikely to affect political stability,” Yusuf said. “Unfortunately, Pakistanis have gone through so much violence that they are desensitized to it.”
Yusuf said the top challenge for the next government will be the economic crisis.
“The new government is going to be in an unenviable position, and especially Imran Khan, as he is not the preferred prime minister for Pakistan’s two traditional chief patrons, China and the U.S.”
Khan has been an outspoken critic of the U.S.-led war in neighboring Afghanistan as well as China’s massive investment in Pakistan, which has racked up millions of dollars in debt to Beijing.